Gold and critical minerals project developer Nova Minerals has eliminated its existing convertible debt facility with Nebari Gold Fund 1 through a $5.42-million conversion of the outstanding balance into ordinary shares.

This follows Nova’s recent sale of its noncore investment in Snow Lake, which realised gross proceeds of $6.73-million.

Nebari will convert the debt at A$0.25 a share, as per the terms approved by Nova shareholders at the company’s AGM in November. The conversion date will be January 13.

After conversion by Nebari, Nova  will retain all the Snow Lake proceed funds for development of the Estelle gold and critical minerals project, in the US state of Alaska.

With further Nasdaq warrants exercised over the last few days, the company now holds about A$16-million in cash to accelerate its development plans.

Nova CEO Christopher Gerteisen describes this conversion as a “serious vote of confidence” by Nebari, which brings the company a step closer to realising its vision to concurrently develop Estelle into a tier-one gold asset and to help secure a US domestic supply chain for the strategically important mineral antimony.

Nebari has been involved with Nova for over two years and Gerteisen notes that, during that time, Nebari has demonstrated a strong understanding of the industry and challenges involved in bringing new projects to fruition, building on its reputation as a highly respected and experienced financier of precious metals and other mining projects globally.

“We look forward to continually working with Nebari in the operational phase of the project. Establishing a domestic source of the critical mineral antimony is more important than ever, and we stand ready to responsibly produce critical resources here at home and help strengthen America’s national and economic security.

“With a solid cash backing and zero debt now, 2025 is looking to be an exciting and transformational year for the company as we continue to advance both our gold and antimony assets in unison towards production,” says Gerteisen.

“At Nebari, we are exclusively focused on sustainable financing solutions within the mining sector. Taking a partner approach is at the heart of what we do, and this allows us to work with our borrowers to accelerate growth and realise value.

Nebari expresses its confidence in Nova by converting the facility, which now leaves Nova debt free, ensuring all capital can be used for the development of its numerous opportunities at the Estelle gold and critical minerals project, Gerteisen adds.

“We’d like to thank everyone involved at Nova and the strong relationship we have formed. We look forward to continuing our role as a supportive shareholder and potential future further funding partner, as Estelle continues along its path towards production,” comments Nebari senior MD Roderik van Losenoord.

“As an Alaskan, I can’t think of a better show of support to Nova than exercising our debt and converting to equity. It shows Nebari’s confidence in the quality and future value of Nova’s assets, Nova’s great team of professionals and Alaska as a state where sustainable mining projects for future-critical minerals, can be developed,” says Nebari co-founder Clark Gillam.