Nova has established a diversified portfolio in other minerals to hedge against fluctuations in the gold price and to expose Nova to the upside of these other high-value minerals:

• An indirect interest in the Canadian Thompson Brothers Lithium Project through a 37% stake in Snow Lake Resources Ltd (NASDAQ: LITM), an aspiring lithium developer in Manitoba. For more information, see snowlakelithium.com
• An 8.76% interest in Torian Resources Limited (ASX: TNR), a gold exploration company based in Western Australia. For more information, see torianresources.com.au
• A 9.9% interest in Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing (Rotor X), a cash generating US-based company leading the development of electric VTOL aircraft and innovative low operating cost heavy lift drone technology. For more information, see rotorxaircraft.com

Competitive Strengths 

Nova Minerals is an industry leader in the speed and manner in which it has been growing its global resource inventory, working with relatively small budgets.  The company expects this resource growth trajectory to continue into the foreseeable future with deposits remaining wide open coupled with the significant potential across the 450km² Estelle Gold Trend.

Top 10 Largest Independent Gold-Only Projects in North America:

Innovations and Efficiencies

Nova Minerals prides itself on innovation and efficiency as evidenced by its extremely low discovery cost of below $3.50 per ounce, which is well below the industry average. The company continues to look for ways to improve on this while exploring, developing and ultimately producing gold from the Estelle Gold Trend.

CEO, Mr. Christopher Gerteisen notes:

Our metric for evaluating our managerial performance is simply how rapidly we develop our assets, what strategic positions we have acquired at well below inherent value and what partnerships we have formed to advance our projects. From small beginnings, we have evolved into a company that has a large and growing gold endowment. We are unlocking a district in a top tier jurisdiction, taking strategic positions and forming relationships and partnerships with companies to assist us in our aggressive growth strategy, with Nova’s long-term sustainability and innovation in mind to benefit all stakeholders.

X-Ray Particle Ore Sorting

Ore sorting test work conducted on drill core samples from Korbel demonstrates great potential for less processing and increased mine production.

• Ore sorting test work programmes conducted by TOMRA in Sydney demonstrate the potential of ore sorting using X-ray transmission (XRT) technology to successfully separate the gold-bearing veins at Korbel Main
• The results clearly demonstrate the significant benefits that could be expected from the application of Ore Sorting technology, including the potential to increase mine production and enhance the project economics.
• The application of ore sorting at Korbel Main has potential to improve project economics and increase gold production through:
  • Facilitation of bulk mining that would reduce unit mining costs and ore loss experienced in selective mining
  • Rejection of waste material, leading to lower processing costs and minimising environmental impact
  • Higher mill feed grade

Bulk Ore Sorting

Bulk ore sorting is a pre-concentration technology in which large volumes of barren gangue are separated from a fully loaded conveyor belt based on the grade as measured or inferred from a sensor measurement.

With bulk ore sorting, ore that previously didn’t qualify for processing may be upgraded, making it economic to treat and improving the resource utilization. More valuable metal may be extracted from the resource while the processing plant treats a reduced volume at a higher feed grade.

Onsite Independent Preparation Facility

During 2021, Nova established an onsite preparation facility at the year-round man camp. This facility, which has the capacity to process up to 7,500 samples per month, provides Nova with significant cost savings as the samples are prepared through drying, crushing and splitting on site, significantly reducing the sample weight that is shipped from site to the laboratory for analysis.

This also allows the company to bypass the commercial prep-lab which in turn vastly improves the assay result turnaround time.

eVTOL Aircraft of the Future for Mining Transport & Exploration

The unprecedented potential benefits for Nova’s mining operations through the innovative application of clean aircraft technology, have been the primary motive behind the Company’s investment in aerospace company RotorX.

RotorX is in the process of developing the ground-breaking RX eTransporter, an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, designed for difficult terrain and heavy payloads of up to 1600lbs. The unique advancement is its potential ability to fly for more than 1.5 hours (or hover for more than 45 minutes) on a single charge, together with a maximum air speed of over 160mph which translates into a range of up to 200 miles. Its future application is the capability to support remote mining sites with the essential tasks of cargo delivery and transportation of personnel, which will improve both productivity and operational safety. The RX is intended to be produced both as a piloted aircraft and in a pilotless version. It will be a model of sustainability for Nova as part of its ESG development, while at the same time lowering estimated logistics costs by a third.

Artist impression of the RX eVTOL delivering supplies to the exploration site:

Growth Strategies

With the completion of the Phase 1 Scoping Study supporting the Korbel Main Deposit as a stand-alone operation, Nova intends to continue its extensive resource drilling program to increase the size and confidence of its already large resource base.

While the objective is to further expand the resource at the Korbel Gold Project, Nova’s highest priority is to continue drilling the high-grade RPM North Deposit, with a current 23Mt @ 2.0 g/t for 1.5Moz Au Inferred Resource, in order to expand and prove the resource, which will then be included in the upcoming Phase 2 Scoping Study to be delivered later this year. This will allow Nova to merge the Korbel and RPM Gold Projects into this study.

Further upside opportunities also remain as step out extensional drilling is performed over the wider Korbel and RPM Gold Projects for inclusion in the Pre-Feasibility Study which is anticipated to be delivered later in 2023 and with the aim of Nova becoming a globally significant gold developer and producer soon after. This is all part of the vision of unlocking the Estelle Gold Trend.

Developing assets that offer the Company synergy as well as the opportunity to create significant returns on investment and create liquidity that will contribute towards Nova’s core Estelle Gold project, returning cash to investors where appropriate.

• Lithium – Managing and monetising Snow Lake Resources (NASDAQ: LITM) (Thompson Brothers Lithium Project)
  • Snow Lake is committed to being the first fully renewable energy powered electric mine in the world that can deliver a completely traceable, conflict-free, net zero carbon, battery grade lithium to the electric vehicle, or EV, consumer market.
• eVTOL – Preparing helicopter manufacturer RotorX for listing (Alongside Lilium, Joby, and Volocopter Peers). Innovative Rotor X is in the process of developing heavy-lift eVTOL and air taxi technology
• Gold, Rare Earth Elements – continuing to support the growth of 8.76% held Torian Resources (ASX:TNR)

To enhance our engagement with environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues as outlined in our sustainability document in the report.