Key highlights

  • Nova Minerals Corp (ASX:NVA) shares touched a 52-week low during the 19 October 2026 session and closed at $0.395, down 11.24%.
  • A 9 October 2026 announcement says all key antimony plant equipment reached Port MacKenzie, Alaska, on 6 October 2026.
  • The 2026 Estelle field season ended after about 8,000 m of diamond drilling, and first antimony is expected in 2027.

Nova Minerals Corp (ASX:NVA; NYSE American: NVA) is developing the Estelle gold and critical minerals project in Alaska and an antimony processing Facility at Port MacKenzie. On 19 October 2026, the shares touched a 52-week low during the Trading session and closed at $0.395, down 11.24%. In an ASX announcement dated 9 October 2026, the company said the last major pieces of equipment for the facility had arrived on 6 October and that the 2026 Estelle field season was complete.

Equipment and construction

The delivery included two ball mills, a jaw crusher, an apron feeder, hydraulic filter presses and other ancillary items, carried by about 10 truckloads. It follows a larger shipment in early September of more than 40 containers, which the company describes as about 500 tons of processing and refining equipment. Nova says it bought modern equipment from a recently closed site in North America to save time and cost.

Early earthworks have started at Port MacKenzie. Construction of the processing and refinery plant is due to begin in the coming weeks once the remaining permits are received. The plant, supported by a US$43.4 million award from the US Department of War, is designed to process stibnite material and initially make antimony metal and military-grade trisulfide. The design is modular, and first antimony is expected in 2027. Nova has also mined 100 tons of antimony ore as starter feed.

Estelle field season

Three diamond rigs drilled about 8,000 metres between June and September. About 4,200 metres went into the RPM gold deposit, including 1,500 metres at nearby expansion targets, around 800 metres at the Stibium antimony-gold prospect, one 415-metre hole at Stoney, about 475 metres across two holes at Train and about 500 metres across two holes at Styx. Samples have gone to ALS, with results to be reported in due course.

Other work included soil sampling at Portage Pass, mapping at West Wing and continued pre-feasibility metallurgical, environmental and technical studies at Korbel. Infrastructure projects include an access road to the northern prospects, an airstrip expansion intended to take C-130 aircraft, steel fabrication for a crushing and ore-sorting facility and baseline studies for an RPM road alignment.

The announcement also describes the Downstream plan in more detail. A crushing and ore-sorting facility being built at the Whiskey Bravo area of Estelle is intended to produce a coarse intermediate concentrate for transport to Port MacKenzie, where antimony metal and military-grade trisulfide would be produced under the Department of War award. The Korbel-Stibium road is meant to provide year-round overland access to the northern prospects, and the airstrip expansion would lift freight capacity from 7,000 lb with DC-3 aircraft to 42,000 lb with C-130 aircraft.

On the exploration side, drilling at RPM was aimed at the eastern strike extension of RPM North and at raising resource confidence at RPM Valley. Mapping and surface work also covered the area between RPM and the Revelation prospect, where earlier rock chip samples returned up to 24.6 g/t gold. At Train, earlier high-grade surface samples had returned up to 128 g/t gold, and the 2026 holes tested a sheeted vein set there.

Sector backdrop

Broader market context for the 19 October 2026 session: S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) stood at 8,845.70 at 4:25 pm (GMT+11) on 19 October 2026, up 0.44%, or 39.00 points, for the day. The sector map showed a split result. Energy rose 2.16%, Industrials 0.93%, Financials 0.85%, Utilities 0.38% and Consumer Staples 0.25% on the day, while Information Technology fell 1.35%, A-REIT 0.34%, Consumer Discretionary 0.18%, Telecommunication Services 0.16% and Health Care 0.13%.

Risks shareholders should weigh

Construction is conditional on permits that have not yet been issued, and the announcement gives no date for them. First antimony in 2027 depends on permitting, construction progress and Alaskan winter conditions. The US government award supports the antimony project, but the announcement does not set out its milestones or conditions.

No assay results from the 2026 drilling are yet available, so the effect of the season on resource knowledge is unknown. Remote logistics, weather and funding for further infrastructure all bear on cost and timing.

What’s next

The company lists the start of plant construction after final permits, earthworks through winter, the release of assay results, and continued road and airstrip construction as its next steps.