OD6 samples high grade critical mineral - fluorspar - at US project in Nevada
Our US critical minerals Investment OD6 Metals (ASX: OD6) just sampled high grade fluorspar from a brand new target at its project in Nevada, USA.
OD6 has been surface sampling the main targets at its fluorspar project while waiting for drill permits to land.
And today, sampled very high grade fluorspar ~12km south of the closest targets OD6 had sampled before today:
(source)
OD6 returned channel samples with width of ~24m and 51.1% fluorspar grades - here is the cliff the channel samples were dug into:
(source)
So OD6 now has a fourth high grade exploration target at its project, alongside its three other main targets (Horseshoe, Mammoth and Big Jim).
(source)
Now we wait for OD6 to finally drill these targets (OD6 says drilling should be in “early 2027”:
(source)
OD6’s drill targets
OD6 has already completed comprehensive surface exploration, revealing multiple zones of mineralisation outcropping at surface, which could be linked underground.
We have written about the “iceberg” theory before - what may from the surface look like a few isolated outcrops, could be linked underground:
(source)
OD6 is planning to drill test a new zone AND both of the linking corridors:
(source)
What is fluorspar and why it matters
Fluorspar is one of the more niche critical minerals that hasn’t quite received any mainstream attention YET.
However in 2024, fluorspar was listed as one of the nine materials with the highest shortfall risk for the US military in a major conflict scenario. (source)
(like we are in now)
Two explicit signals of fluorspar demand from US agencies have come from:
- The Department of War, through the Ares’ US$250M supply contract, (source) and;
- The US Defence Logistics Agency (DLA) - when it included fluorspar on its list of critical minerals that are a priority for sourcing in January this year. (source)
On the 20th of July, President Trump signed an Executive Order to force defence contractors to explore all avenues before buying critical minerals from China. (Here is the full EO)
And set a deadline for “exploring all avenues” of 1st January 2027.
We think that the 1st of January 2027 deadline (and the threat of lost contracts) will mean capital starts getting deployed for any projects that have any realistic pathway to producing a critical mineral in the US.
We covered the drill permits being lodged here: OD6 lodges drill permits and begins FAST-41 engagement for its Nevada fluorspar project.
What's next for OD6?
🔄 Drill permit application
A few weeks ago OD6 officially submitted the paperwork that, once approved, will allow it to do the first modern drilling (and bulk sampling) at the project since the 1950s.
The “Plan of Operations” is for up to 139 drill pad locations across priority target areas:
(source)
Milestones:
- ✅ Plan of Operations submitted to the US Forest Service
- 🔄 Plan of operations approved
- 🔲 Drill program confirmed and drilling contractor secured
- 🔲 Drill program commenced
🔄 Target generation for US fluorspar project
We want to see OD6 sample in and around the old workings on its project, run some geophysics and generate high priority drill targets ahead of its maiden drilling program.
Milestones:
- ✅ Rock chips
- ✅ Channel sampling
- ✅ Historic drill results
- ✅ Digitisation of scanned paper maps and cross-sections into a 3D geological model
- ✅ Soil/channel sampling
- 🔲 Geophysics
- ✅ Drill targets generated
