ASX- and NYSE-listed Nova Minerals has completed the engineering and design workstreams for its Estelle antimony pilot processing plant, in Alaska.

The engineering and design work covers the Whiskey Bravo front-end processing site, the Port MacKenzie beneficiation plant and Port MacKenzie refinery.

Nova has engineered its planned antimony trisulphide production to meet US Department of War military-grade quality specifications using a proprietary cleaner hydrometallurgical processing method.

The pilot plant is a critical first step in fast-tracking domestic antimony production in Alaska.

"With a modular design that enables future expansion through the addition of refining circuits, including antimony trioxide and antimony metal production, the facility will serve as a scalable processing hub for feedstock from Estelle, as well as regional and global projects," Nova CEO Christopher Gerteisen explains.

Nova is progressing with plant equipment procurement, with key components being delivered to the project site to support construction in the coming months.

PROCESS BACKGROUND

The Estelle antimony processing pilot plant has been designed to treat stibnite-bearing material and produce an antimony trisulfide product suitable for sale or further downstream use.

The project is structured around two principal locations: the Whiskey Bravo site for front-end processing, including crushing, screening, ore sorting, concentrate storage and load-out; and the Port MacKenzie processing facility for crushing, screening, ore sorting, beneficiation, refining, product recovery, utilities, reagent systems, infrastructure and logistics.

After collecting bulk sample material from two locations (stibium and styx) within the Estelle Project claims, the material will be transported to Whiskey Bravo for crushing and initial sorting. Select sample material will then be transported through air or by snow road to Port MacKenzie for further processing.

The processing at Port MacKenzie will include concentration and refining of the antimony ore to deliver a final antimony trisulphide product, which will then be filtered, fried and bagged for shipment.