Nove Minerals downplays report of buying antimony from Pakistan

[Ben Graham]

Nova Minerals (NASDAQ, ASX: NVA) has downplayed recent reports of the company buying antimony produced in Pakistan for testing and processing at its Alaska-based facilities.

According to a Dec. 29 report by the Financial Times, the dual-listed miner is said to have partnered with a Pakistani company for the exploration of antimony as part of strengthened economic ties between the US and the Asian nation. Under the partnership, Nova would buy over 100 tonnes of Pakistani antimony concentrates for about $2 million early in 2026, FT said, citing company CEO Christopher Gerteisen.

However, Nova issued a statement on Jan. 5 stating that only “preliminary discussions” about sourcing antimony from Pakistan, and the talks remain “exploratory” in nature.

Despite this clarification, shares in Nova Minerals surged by more than 6% on Tuesday, sending its market capitalization to nearly $396 million in New York.

Focus on Alaska

For this year, Nova said its focus is to complete a feasibility study for its gold assets in Alaska. Its flagship Estelle project comprises over 500 km² in state mining claims in the Tintina Gold Belt, a region known to hold over 220 million oz. of primarily bulk-tonnage gold deposits.

To date, the company has identified as many as 20 prospects on the property, including four large, near-surface, intrusion-related gold deposits across a 35-km long corridor. Together, they hold a total gold resource of nearly 10 million oz., making it one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in the world.

In addition to gold, many prospects hold traces of antimony, a widely recognized critical mineral due to its importance to the defense sector. Historically, the Tintina region had been a major source of North American supply. Government data shows that antimony ores from at least 25 deposits in the state were shipped to markets between 1905 and 1986, and the mineral is found to be associated with some of Alaska’s major gold deposits.

With respect to this critical mineral, Nova said it will continue its work on starting the production of military-grade antimony trisulfide. Since 2016, the US has not produced any antimony commercially and has been relying on foreign imports.

In support of the company’s antimony plans, which revolve around a proposed mining and refining hub based in Alaska, the US Department of War last year provided $43.4 million in funding under the Defense Production Act.