Nova Minerals secures multi-million-dollar funding to advance its mining project. Antimony has both civilian and military applications.
The U.S. Department of Defense is continuing its push to strengthen the domestic supply chain for critical minerals. A subsidiary of Australian mining company Nova Minerals Limited has been awarded more than $43 million in funding (PDF) to produce antimony trisulfide to military specifications. This compound of the technology metal antimony is an essential component in certain types of ammunition and modern weapons systems.
The raw material is slated to come from Estelle, a gold and antimony project in Alaska’s Tintina Gold Belt, where Nova holds a majority stake. The funding is intended to establish a fully integrated supply chain, from mining through refining to finished product. Estelle is still in the development stage, and no production timeline has been disclosed. According to CEO Christopher Gerteisen, the project aims not only to supply the U.S. military but also to serve civilian industries, such as the semiconductor manufacturing sector.
Located approximately 150 kilometers northwest of Anchorage, Estelle lies in a region historically recognized as a significant hub for antimony in North America.
Pentagon Seeks to Revive U.S. Antimony Production
This is not the Pentagon’s first investment in reviving domestic production of the critical metal. U.S.-based Perpetua Resources has also received multi-million-dollar funding to test whether its Stibnite project in Idaho can deliver antimony trisulfide for defense use. Stibnite, named after the primary source of antimony, has also benefited from the expedited permitting processes introduced by the U.S. government for select raw material projects.
The strategic importance of antimony is further underscored by a recent government agreement with a domestic producer to supply the national stockpile with metal ingots over a five-year period.
The geopolitical backdrop adds urgency: China, the world’s leading supplier, banned exports of antimony to the U.S. at the end of last year. General export restrictions were already imposed in September, citing potential military applications. As a result, China’s antimony exports plummeted sharply in the first half of 2025.
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