OD6 increases grades at Nevada fluorspar project
OD6 increases grades at Nevada fluorspar project
Our US critical minerals Investment OD6 Metals (ASX: OD6) just upgraded previous samples from its fluorspar project by an average of 12.9%…
The standout sample now is 50m at 79.3% fluorspar from surface (previously reported as 63.9%).
OD6 also had 31 samples above 90% with a peak grade of 98.8% fluorspar.
(source)
As we have covered before, fluorspar sells in two grade classes:
- Metspar (60-96% fluorspar) - commonly added into steel, and
- Acidspar (>97% fluorspar) - used in semiconductors, batteries and defence, and a big reason the US wants its own supply chain.
(source)
So today's grades could see OD6 supply the 60% market with minimal processing via a Direct Shipping Ore operation.
Check out our back of the napkin numbers on a potential DSO operating here.
We also saw OD6 is keeping an eye on fluorspar prices, posting a link to this last week on LinkedIn:
(source)
And OD6 has previously shown its material can be upgraded to 97.83% acidspar, already past that Acidspar benchmark.
Today's results come from Horseshoe, one of the main prospects across OD6's ground at Quinn.
We think based on the multiple outcropping and OD6’s results so far, that the fluorspar mineralisation could be connected underneath, so perhaps the high grades could extend.
And here is how consistently the re-assays upgraded the old numbers (dots above the red line mean the new assay came in higher):
(source)
(These are still surface samples - drilling is needed to prove what sits underneath.)
High grades from surface matter because they could support a near term production scenario, which opens up funding opportunities.
The analogue is ~A$110M capped Ares Strategic Mining, the only permitted US fluorspar mine, which secured a US government supply contract worth US$169M (up to US$250M).
We think OD6 could position itself similarly, as it runs the US critical minerals playbook we covered in last week's note.
What has OD6 shown at Quinn so far
We have used this image in the past to explain the theory that the surface cropping fluorspar could be connected underneath:
(source)
Recent results have shown multiple soil anomalies across the project area, which have expanded the mineralised corridor to more than 8km.
In particular from these results is the Horseshoe to Spar area, which suggest could be linked over a 1.5km core target area.
(source)
On top of this, OD’s fluorspar is contained in epithermal mineralisation, which is more commonly associated with gold deposits.
As part of recent sampling, OD6 also revealed some high grade gold samples to go along with the fluorspar:
(source)
Which given Nevada is home to some of the biggest gold deposits, this news was pretty interesting:
(source)
So gold and fluorspar showing up together here has a bit of precedent historically.
What's next for OD6?
🔄 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
Strategic / Government Engagement for fluorspar in the US
- 🔲 Engage with US Department of War, Department of Energy, or DLA regarding domestic fluorspar supply
- 🔲 Explore strategic partnerships or offtake discussions
- 🔄 OTC listing -underway (source)
