OD6 Metals (ASX:OD6) has identified multiple high-priority drill targets at its Quinn Fluorspar Project in Nevada, US.
The company collected 320 soil samples across the project, defining a mineralised corridor extending more than 8km. Recent soil sampling returned fluorine (F) values up to 31,800 parts per million (ppm) F at North Horseshoe Canyon. The Horseshoe to Spar corridor is potentially linked over a 1.5km core target area.
North Horseshoe Canyon delivered the strongest anomalies, with five samples exceeding 20,000ppm F across a 150m strike length.
Peak value of 31,800ppm F equates to approximately 6.5% calcium fluoride (CaF2), indicating a ‘high-grade’ source proximal to the sampling location.
The company interprets this as a direct continuation of the Big Jim occurrence on the southwest side of the lithocap, opening a 750m dip zone for testing.
North Horseshoe shows strong fluorspar pathfinder anomalies pointing to continuations of the ‘high-grade’ Horseshoe deposit beneath a silica cap across a 400m target zone.
The Big Jim to Spar Ridge prospect displays robust pathfinders defining a 600m target zone, while the newly identified Dress Circle prospect shows epithermal alteration with high pathfinder anomalies spanning approximately 1,000m.
“The exceptional fluorine values at North Horseshoe Canyon, up to a 6.5% calcium fluoride peak in soils, are well above grades you would expect to see in a soil sampling program and strongly suggest the presence of a nearby high-grade source,” Managing Director Brett Hazelden says.
OD6 used principal component analysis to combine 11 trace elements into a single score called F-PC1, which flags soil enriched in fluorspar-related elements.
Surface soil results show an epithermal footprint extending over 8km, with a central zone from Horseshoe Mine through North Horseshoe to Big Jim presenting a 1.5km strike length target.
OD6 exercised its option to acquire Quinn in June. The project offers ‘high-grade’ fluorspar mineralisation exceeding 40% CaF2 at the Mammoth and Horseshoe deposits, with historic rock chip results up to 98.6% CaF2 reported across the wider area.
The company plans to finalise shareholder approvals, complete geological modelling and drill targeting, lodge bulk sample permit applications, commence metallurgical test work, and prepare a maiden drilling program.
Fluorspar is listed on the US critical minerals list with applications in battery technologies, AI chip manufacturing, nuclear fuels, aerospace, and defence. The US currently relies entirely on imports for fluorspar.
OD6 Metals is an Australian critical minerals explorer advancing the Quinn Fluorspar Project in Nevada and the Splinter Rock Rare Earth Project in Western Australia.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: OD6 Metals
