Resources Top 5: Nova plays cards right in US critical minerals supply ambitions

• Nova Minerals having great run of US government recognition for Estelle project
• ADD confident of another discovery in the prolific Lachlan Fold Belt of NSW
• A private placement to four prominent investors has raised $5.4m for CuFe

Your standout small cap resources stocks for Wednesday, October 15, 2025.      

Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA)

Emerging ASX-listed gold and antimony company Nova Minerals is playing the right cards in its strategy to become the first fully integrated supplier of military-grade antimony in the US.

Capping off a great run of US government recognition, Nova has been included in the official program ahead of the Trump-Albanese talks on October 20.

This trump card comes soon after landing a US$43.4m ($65.5m) award from the US Department of War and another high-ranking card with a land use permit for its planned antimony refinery at Port MacKenzie in Alaska.

The permit for the commercial operation of a US critical minerals production hub allows Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) to begin establishing downstream antimony processing and refining with access to the deepwater, commodity-focused port facilities near Alaska’s largest city of Anchorage.

It also backs Nova’s proximity to critical infrastructure including the fast progressing West Susitna Access Road.

This winning hand has seen NVA soar 90% to $1.71, a high of more than four years, and on volume of more than 20m valued at $32m. The company eased back to close at $1.635, which was still a jump of 81.67%.

Nova’s involvement in the program in Washington DC before talks between President Trump and PM Albanese follows an invitation from Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd. 

It will provide a briefing on its Estelle gold and critical minerals project in Alaska which was identified in a recent RFC Ambrian report as one of only two US-linked developments with near-term antimony production capability, alongside Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite project in Idaho.

Enhancing its critical minerals bounty, Estelle is home to one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits globally, with a 9.9Moz resource. 

Support from federal, state and local governments had already secured Nova pole position in the race for US antimony production, with its commercial output targeted for 2026–27.

Prices of the critical mineral have soared six-fold since late 2023 from around US$10,000/t to nearly US$60,000/t, driven by Chinese export bans and tightening international supply.

Despite its strategic importance for defence and energy, the US produces no primary antimony on a commercial scale. That leaves the country heavily reliant on imports, mainly from China, with Russia and Tajikistan also producers.

Adavale Resources (ASX:ADD)

(Up on no news)

Confident it can make another discovery in the prolific Lachlan Fold Belt of NSW is Adavale Resources (ASX:ADD), which lifted 77.5% to a 12-month high of 7.1c before closing up 37.5% at 5.5c.

In a recent interview with Stockhead, the company said it was looking to follow in the footsteps of Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM), which has had a stellar recent run following gold exploration successes at its Spur project.

Executive chairman Allan Ritchie said the Lachlan Fold Belt was a collegiate region with all the companies knowing about each other and supporting each other.

“There are outstanding geologists in that region that really understand it and know how to find the most success in that area,” he added.

“It’s also interesting because there are a number of serious majors in the Lachlan Fold Belt like Newmont, Evolution and Fortescue.

“AngloGold Ashanti don’t have tenements there, but they are in joint ventures with Kincora and Inflection Resources with earn-ins of about $110m and up to $140m respectively.”

Ritchie believes having these majors is encouraging as it implies that a good discovery might convince them to participate in a joint venture.

After picking up its four initial licences, Adavale has since pegged a fifth on its own – from the same vendor who sold Waratah’s.

The original package of licences acquired by Adavale includes the historical London Victoria mine that produced 155,000oz of gold from an open pit mine at an average grade of ~2g/t until operations ceased in 1998.

There’s also no shortage of prospects such as Ashes and Myalls scattered across its acreage.

London Victoria is a sizeable former BHP mine with a crushing and grinding circuit as well as an old carbon-in-leach plant.

It still has a notable resource remaining with ADD’s work defining a resource of 3.14Mt grading 1.06g/t, or 107,000oz contained gold, which makes up the bulk of the 115,000oz resource at the broader Parkes gold-copper project.

CuFe (ASX:CUF)

An injection of $5.4m through a private placement will support CuFe (ASX:CUF) in the next phase of exploration drilling and studies at Tennant Creek copper-gold project in the NT.

There will be 318m shares issued at 1.7c each, a premium of 5% to the five-day VWAP, to four participants led by critical minerals and strategic defence sector focused investor Mathew August.

Other participants include a leading institutional investment fund and two other high net worth investors from North America and Australia.

The placement includes one free attaching unlisted option with an exercise price of 5c and expiring November 30, 2027, for every two shares subscribed for.

Executive director Mark Hancock said the funds would allow the company to improve resource classification at the Gecko deposit, where resources were upgraded 400% in August 2025 to 18.4Mt grading 2.32% copper equivalent.

Funds will also be used to progress underground mining studies and a review on the potential to produce bismuth, which will also determine the potential to develop a starter pit producing direct shipping copper/gold ore.

Resouro Strategic Metals (ASX:RAU)

Canadian incorporated mineral exploration and development company Resouro Strategic Metals (ASX:RAU) , which is listed on the ASX, TSXV, OTC and FSE, expects to shortly close a private placement at C$0.20 per unit for gross proceeds of up to C$3m.

The company has received subscription agreements and anticipates closing the raise within the next week.

RAU intends to use the net proceeds to advance the engineering program, an essential step toward a Preliminary Economic Assessment, for the Tiros titanium-rare earths project in Brazil.

Tiros has 28 mineral concessions totalling 497km2 in the state of Minas Gerais, one of the best infrastructurally developed states of Brazil.

The mineral resource estimate for the project contains 165Mt of titanium dioxide and 5.5Mt of total rare earths oxides within a measured and indicated resource of 1.4Bt at 12% titanium dioxide and 4,000ppm of total rare earth oxides.

Alma Metals (ASX:ALM)

With a focus on advancing the Briggs copper project in central Queensland, Alma Metals (ASX:ALM) is drilling a 900m diamond hole to test a VTEM anomaly immediately adjacent to the existing mineral resource.

ALM anticipates the hole, which is partially funded by a $250,000 grant under the Queensland Government’s Collaborative Exploration Initiative, will be completed this month with results expected four to six weeks later. 

Data will inform ongoing technical studies and support further resource expansion and metallurgical domaining, enhancing project definition. 

Briggs boasts more than 2 million tonnes of contained copper with significant potential for further expansion in tonnage and grade via ongoing drilling. 

The project’s scale, open-pit potential and location in a tier one jurisdiction with exceptional infrastructure allow for substantial operational efficiencies which enhance its feasibility and potential economic viability.

Scoping study work programs are nearing completion, with financial modelling underway.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent financial advice before making any financial decisions.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Adavale Resources and CuFe are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.