OD6 Metals (ASX:OD6) has submitted a plan of operations to the United States Forest Service (USFS), seeking approval to undertake its maiden drilling and bulk-sampling program at the Quinn Fluorspar Project in Nevada, US.
The plan of operations provides for up to 139 drill pads across priority Quinn target areas. The proposed program is designed to establish geological, grade, and continuity data required to support a future mineral resource estimate.
Managing Director Brett Hazelden says the submission represents a major milestone for Quinn and moves the company closer to drilling what it considers “an exceptional high-grade fluorspar opportunity”.
“This is much more than an application to drill. The plan of operations has been designed to provide the permitting framework to systematically define the high-grade fluorspar systems at Quinn and obtain representative bulk material required to advance our metallurgical and beneficiation programs,” Hazelden says.
According to OD6, the extensive fluorspar mineralisation from surface at Quinn remains largely untested by drilling, with only four shallow historical drill holes at the Horseshoe prospect. As such, the proposed program aims to test the Horseshoe-Mammoth mineralised trend along strike and at depth.
The drilling will initially focus on the Horseshoe, Mammoth, and Big Jim areas. The submission also seeks approval for bulk sampling to support ore sorting, beneficiation, and metallurgical test work.
Hazelden says OD6 has “deliberately front-end-loaded the permitting process”, having completed all planned biological and cultural baseline field surveys across the project area. The company aims to submit final reports to the USFS in October 2026.
OD6 is targeting approval under a Categorical Exclusion pathway to exempt routine exploration activities from detailed environmental assessments under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The USFS has an initial 30-day review period following receipt of the submission under 36 CFR Part 228 Subpart A — Locatable Minerals regulations.
OD6 says it has also begun discussions about potential future inclusion in the FAST-41 Transparency Program.
Located approximately 220km north of Las Vegas, Quinn hosts multiple ‘high-grade’ fluorspar deposits. Fluorspar is classified as a critical mineral in the US, which currently imports 100% of its supply.
OD6 Metals is a critical minerals explorer and developer with projects spanning fluorspar, rare earth elements, and copper across the US and Australia.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: OD6 Metals
