The maiden drilling campaign at OD6 Metals’ (ASX: OD6) flagship Quinn Fluorspar Project is one step closer, with permit applications submitted for up to 139 drill pads and a bulk sampling program following a substantial increase in the grades and mapped extent of its priority Nevada targets. The campaign is a major catalyst with significant rerate potential, and OD6 has put out a host of encouraging results since our initiation article a month ago, which can be read here. The campaign will test strike and depth extensions, make serious inroads to an MRE and collect representative material for larger processing trials. Quinn combines exceptionally high-grade veins with broader replacement and breccia targets across an 8km mineralised corridor, providing several potential sources of feed for the central processing operation OD6 is evaluating. Horseshoe’s standout surface channel now grades 50m at 79.3% CaF₂, upgraded from 63.9% CaF₂, while Mammoth’s interpreted footprint has expanded from 9,000m² to 14,300m² – and it is beginning to show potential to develop into a higher grade analogue of $470 million market cap Tivan’s (ASX:TVN) project. Additionally, six rock and float samples along the 700m Rocket-Big Jim-Spar corridor returned at least 97% CaF₂, including three reported at 99.9% CaF₂. The company has also completed a key US federal funding registration and is pursuing an OTCQB quotation as it advances the technical work to attract American financing and downstream partners. Acidspar prices have recently hit US$654/t, up from US$480/t a year ago – and the US remains 100% import reliant.

The presence of a substantial epithermal system at Quinn is supported by the 1.5km Horseshoe-Big Jim alteration corridor and 70,000m² lithocap, which contains intense pyrophyllite, alunite-dickite and phyllic alteration alongside jasperoid replacement. Drilling will test whether the known deposits connect through a broader stratigraphically controlled mineralised horizon, extending the opportunity beyond the individual high grade exposures.

Horseshoe’s expanded assaying delivered 50m at 79.3% CaF₂ along the southeast wall, 15m at 85.8% CaF₂ across the central bench, 22m at 78.8% across the northwest wall and 27m at 65.1% CaF₂  in the north pit. These channels reaffirm the distribution of high grades across exposed rock, while upcoming drilling will determine true thickness and subsurface continuity. Historic drilling and pit exposures indicate a tabular body approximately 15 to 30m thick within an 80m wide exposed zone, with extensions beneath the silicified cap and talus cover. Testing these extensions and underlying breccia could substantially increase the mineralised volume around the workings.

Horseshoe’s four historical holes went down to an average depth of around 38m, with drilling in 1958 returning 14.3m at 70.9% CaF₂ from surface, including 1.5m at 84% CaF₂, with these holes preceding the open pit that exposed the high-grade core and subsequently produced approximately 26,000t of fluorspar. Several sections were unassayed and holes ended in veined or fractured material, while the underlying footwall breccia also remains unassayed – leaving clear and extremely high priority targets for the maiden campaign.

Mammoth’s 14,300m² footprint is now 59% larger than the 9,000m² outlined at initiation, with mapping defining more than 300m of strike and widths reaching up to 100m. Adjacent middle-bench channels collectively returned 44m at 29% CaF₂, including 12m at 42% CaF₂, supported by 22m at 20.1% CaF₂ and 15m at 20.5% CaF₂ on other benches. A steeply dipping breccia and stockwork body has been interpreted as occupying a dilational zone between faults, and mineralisation across multiple exposures supports the prospect of a bulk-tonnage target, with the eastern margin concealed beneath talus, the northern continuation plunging beneath silicified limestone and a historically mapped southern extension still awaiting testing. 

The combination of Rocket, Big Jim and Spar adds at least four mineralised structures across 700m, with different orientations providing further targets around Big Jim’s exceptionally high-grade vein. Big Jim exposes approximately 2m of massive fluorspar dipping 15 to 20° west, above an exposed footwall breccia that returned 37.4% CaF₂ and continues below the visible outcrop. Rocket returned 88.8% CaF₂ from in-situ mineralisation, with nearby float and mine-spoil samples reaching 99.9% CaF₂ approximately 450m east of Big Jim, which returned 94.3%, 94.1% and 87.1% CaF₂ from steep veins along felsic dyke contacts. These surface samples define targets for drilling to establish representative grades and continuity, while the contrasting shallow veins, mineralised breccias and steep dyke contacts provide several structures to follow beneath cover.

Drilling will establish how far these deposits extend along strike and at depth, defining the volume available for resource estimation and potentially outlining a target approaching the scale of $470 million market cap TVN’s 43.2Mt Speewah project, which grades just 8.3% CaF₂. Despite this relatively low grade, the March feasibility study outlined a $344m post-tax NPV₈ and 29% IRR over a 10-year mine life with $301m pre-production capex.

With the completion of OD6’s SAM.gov registration, the company is able to pursue relevant federal contracting and funding opportunities – placing it to be in line for something similar to the estimated supply award of US$168.9 million that Ares Strategic Mining (CSE: ARS) received from the DoD/DoW, which has a ceiling of US$250 million. The Defense Logistics Agency lists fluorspar among the materials prioritised under its research and qualification program, which remains open until 30 January 2029 and includes processing and beneficiation. 

Quinn’s bulk sampling could generate technical evidence and customer samples to advance those discussions, with funding dependent on successful applications and assessment. 94% of global fluorspar production is concentrated among China, Mongolia, Mexico and South Africa, despite it being essential for semiconductor manufacturing, lithium-ion battery production, uranium enrichment and a litany of defence applications. Being 100% net import reliant while also having no significant mine production since 1995 leaves the US in a very vulnerable position, and ARS’ current 50ktpa ramp up plan will not come close to bridging this gap, even if it goes ahead with upgrading part of its output to acidspar.  

The proposed drill-pad map below shows the areas submitted for approval across Horseshoe, Mammoth and Big Jim, with multiple holes possible from individual pads and access designed around existing routes where practicable:

Source: OD6

Mammoth’s expanded target map below shows the 14,300m² interpreted footprint and the northern, eastern and southern extensions that drilling will test beneath cover, along with the prospect’s channel sampling and rock chip sampling results:

Source: OD6

A map of Rocket-Big Jim-Spar below shows high-grade samples, contrasting vein orientations and fluorine soil anomalies across the 700m corridor:

Source: OD6

The USGS chart below compares quarterly acidspar, metspar and hydrofluoric acid imports from 2020 through December 2025, illustrating the dominance of acid-grade material in the American market:

With the acquisition recently completed in August after a seemingly rigorous DD period since  March, OD6 has rapidly and systematically worked to validate and build on an extremely attractive historical dataset that is now primed for modern drilling validation – which is just a couple of months away. Quinn now has extraordinarily high verified surface grades, a larger mapped bulk-tonnage target and likely soon to be issued permits covering both drilling and bulk sampling. This upcoming campaign will determine how much of the surface mineralisation continues at depth, while metallurgical work establishes how it can be converted into products for a substantial, import-dependent US market – placing OD6 at its biggest value inflection point so far.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and marketing purposes only, and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to invest. All opinions expressed are our own. We may receive fees or other forms of compensation in connection with the publication of this content, and may own shares in any of the mentioned companies. Please do your own research and seek professional advice before making any investment decisions.