Nova Minerals cites US$249M rail award for planned refinery access
Alaska Railroad is the recipient, with US$62 million in state and local contributions toward the Port MacKenzie extension.
Theo Marchetti
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced a US$249 million rail award on Monday, which NYSE American-listed Nova Minerals Corp ASXNVA NYSEAMERICANNVA says would provide access to its planned Alaska antimony refinery. Nova said in its Oct. 21 release that the 32-mile extension would connect its planned Port MacKenzie processing and refining hub to Alaska Railroad's main line.
Alaska Railroad Corporation is the grant recipient. Nova's Oct. 21 release puts the rail project's cost at US$311 million, with federal funding covering about 80 per cent. State and local partners would contribute the remaining US$62 million.
Nova's NYSEAMERICANNVA shares closed lower at US$3.13 in New York at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 20. That close preceded the company's Wednesday release.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he wanted the grant delivered by spring and earthworks under way, according to comments from the Oct. 19 announcement quoted in Nova's release. That places the next stated construction target in spring 2027.
Rail Funding Covers Design And Construction
The award comes through the Federal Railroad Administration's Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program. The agency's Oct. 19 project selection lists funding of up to US$249,052,399 for project development, final design, right-of-way acquisition and construction.
The route would connect Port MacKenzie, south of Houston, Alaska, to the railroad's main line. The Department of Transportation says the completed extension would shorten the distance from Interior Alaska to the port and reduce shipping times and expenses.
Nova says its planned facility sits directly along the extension and would have a rail siding. That would allow antimony and other mineral ore and concentrate feedstock to move from Alaska's interior and the region to the proposed processing hub.
Nova's Oct. 21 release links the rail project to plans for an antimony processing and refining hub. The rail grant funds the transport corridor, while the company's facility remains a proposed industrial user of that infrastructure.
"What that means is we want to get this out by spring. We want to be turning dirt," Duffy said at the Oct. 19 announcement, according to Nova's release.
Antimony Processing Has Separate Federal Support
United States Antimony Corporation NYSEUAMY reported in its May 14 results that its Thompson Falls expansion in Montana was backed by a US$27 million Department of War grant.
The processor said it had achieved US$12.8 million in grant milestones in the quarter ended March 31, 2026. It recorded the amount as a receivable, with a corresponding reduction to construction in progress.
Read more: Neo Performance Materials selected for EU grant of up to €126M
Duffy's spring 2027 target concerns delivering the rail grant and beginning groundworks. Progress toward that target would advance the transport link Nova expects to use for its planned antimony facility.
