Almost 500 tons of crushing, ore sorting, milling, flotation, and refining equipment departed Seattle on August 26, 2026, aboard a barge bound for Nova Minerals’ processing site at Port MacKenzie, Alaska. The barge is expected to arrive Monday, September 7.
The development of the Nova Minerals Port MacKenzie antimony refinery is fully funded by a $43.4 million award from the U.S. Department of War. The refinery will support the establishment of a domestic antimony supply chain— currently dominated by China— with first production targeted for 2027. Antimony is a critical mineral used in military technology, flame retardants, vehicle and industrial batteries, and semiconductors.
The shipment on its way to Alaska, comprising more than 40 containers and multiple oversized loads, is expected to arrive by early September, marking the culmination of six months of detailed planning, procurement, and logistics coordination. “A key part of our strategy has been to acquire existing, modern processing equipment and mobilize it to Alaska, rather than build new equipment from scratch. That decision allowed us to move faster and more cost-effectively as we construct our processing plant at Port MacKenzie and work toward first antimony production in 2027,” commented Nova Minerals CEO, Mr. Christopher Gerteisen.
The Port MacKenzie plant is designed to process stibnite-bearing material, initially into antimony trisulfide as part of the U.S. Department of War (DoW) project, and is modular and easily scalable for future expansion into additional saleable refined antimony products, including antimony metal and trioxide. Port MacKenzie also provides a strategic location with access to deepwater port infrastructure, the proposed West Susitna Access Road, and Port MacKenzie rail spur…