Nova Minerals Limited (NASDAQ:NVA) said it has begun transporting heavy machinery to its Estelle Project in Alaska using a 150-kilometer winter snow road connecting the site to Willow. The company reported that about 70% of the equipment has already left its freight yard and is en route to the project location.
Construction of the seasonal snow road started in early December and included snow pre-packing, flooding sections with water to strengthen ice at river crossings, and clearing brush along the route. Extremely cold winter conditions allowed the company to build ice bridges more than 1.5 meters thick, capable of supporting freight loads exceeding 45,000 kilograms.
After receiving a $43.4 million award from the U.S. Department of War in October 2025, Nova assembled an engineering team and sourced heavy equipment from across the United States and Alaska. The equipment package includes articulated haul trucks, excavators, bulldozers, crushers and ore-sorting systems that will be used for trail construction, expansion of the project airstrip and the extraction and processing of antimony ore.
The company said roughly 95% of its key mining and processing equipment has already arrived at its staging facility in Willow. From there, the machinery is being moved to the Estelle site either on ski-trailers pulled by low ground-pressure vehicles or by being driven along the winter route.
“Having just ridden out and back on the snow trail myself, I can confirm this was the fastest and smoothest I’ve ever seen it,” said Hans Hoffman, Nova’s general manager and geologist. The company said it remains confident that it will deliver the equipment needed to begin antimony production according to its planned timeline.
With temperatures expected to reach around -26°C, Nova believes conditions will remain favorable for winter freight transport. The company is targeting initial antimony production in late 2026 or 2027 as part of efforts to develop a domestic supply chain for the critical mineral.