OD6 Metals Confirms Exceptional Fluorspar Grades at Horseshoe Nevada Deposit

Historic Drilling Unlocks Exceptional Fluorspar Grades at OD6 Metals' Nevada Project — And the Best May Still Be Untested

OD6 Metals Limited (ASX: OD6) has announced the validation of historic drilling results at its Horseshoe Fluorspar Deposit, part of the Quinn Fluorspar Project in Nevada, USA — and the numbers are striking. Assay data compiled from a 1958 Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) drill programme confirms exceptionally high-grade calcium fluoride (CaF₂) mineralisation starting from surface, with individual intercepts reaching as high as 93.7% CaF₂.

Critically, these OD6 Metals historic drilling results at the Horseshoe fluorspar deposit in Nevada came from the margin of the mineral system — not the high-grade core — and the deposit remains open in all directions, including at depth, which has never been tested by drilling.

What the 1958 Drilling Actually Found — and Why It Was Abandoned

The story behind the Horseshoe drilling programme is as compelling as the numbers themselves. In 1958, Union Carbide Corporation dispatched a four-hole shallow drill programme to investigate what would later become the Horseshoe Fluorspar Deposit. The programme returned exceptional grades, but a land access dispute with a local prospector effectively killed any follow-up work.

With only four holes completed and a perceived small footprint, UCC withdrew entirely.

What Happened After UCC Left?

What followed adds further intrigue. After UCC's departure, private developers opened a small open-pit at the site, exposing considerable widths and faces of high-grade fluorspar. OD6 Metals independently checked these pit exposures and reported results in April 2026, which are broadly consistent with the historic drill data.

The four drill holes — H1, H2, H3, and H4 — had an average depth of approximately 38 metres and were located in what is now understood to be the southern corner of the exposed mineral system.

UCC did not assay the entire length of any hole, selectively targeting only the zones they believed were high-grade fluorspar-bearing. Multiple core sections logged with fractured breccia and vein material were left unassayed, meaning the true mineralised widths may be materially greater than what was recorded.

The Drill Results: Grades That Stand Out Globally

The compiled assay data from the four holes presents a remarkable picture, particularly given that these intercepts came from what is now known to be the periphery of the system.

OD6 Metals Historic Drilling Results at the Horseshoe Fluorspar Deposit in Nevada — Key Drill Intercepts

Several features of this dataset warrant close attention:

• H4 returned 14.3 metres at 70.9% CaF₂ from surface — a near-surface, high-grade intercept beginning at zero metres depth
• H2 delivered 14.0 metres at 59.9% CaF₂, including a peak result of 86.7% CaF₂ over 1.5 metres
• H1 recorded 25.8 metres at 46.2% CaF₂, hosting a high-grade sub-interval of 12.8 metres at 60.9% CaF₂, with a peak of 93.7% CaF₂ over 1.2 metres — effectively near-pure fluorspar
• Mineralisation in H4 begins right at the surface, underscoring the shallow nature of the system and its potential amenability to low-cost extraction methods in the future

These results sit well above conventional fluorspar benchmarks. Run-of-mine ore grades at producing mines globally commonly range from 20% to 45% CaF₂. The raw drill grades at Horseshoe are, in many cases, already approaching or exceeding those processed grades.

Understanding CaF₂ Grade — Why It Matters for Fluorspar Projects

What is CaF₂?

CaF₂ — calcium fluoride, or fluorspar — is the primary mineral of interest in a fluorspar deposit. It is measured as a percentage of the total rock mass. The higher the CaF₂ percentage in raw ore, the less processing is required to produce a saleable product, and the lower the cost of that processing.

Why Does Grade Matter to Investors?

In fluorspar mining, grade is a direct proxy for project economics. Higher raw ore grades translate to:

1. Lower processing costs — less material needs to be handled and refined to produce a tonne of saleable fluorspar
2. Higher revenue per tonne mined — more of the rock is the product itself
3. Greater metallurgical flexibility — very high-grade ores may be amenable to simple beneficiation rather than complex chemical processing

The grades reported at Horseshoe — with averages in the high-grade sub-intervals exceeding 60–70% CaF₂, and peaks approaching 94% CaF₂ — are exceptional by global standards.

Key Terms Explained

• CaF₂: Calcium fluoride — the key mineral in fluorspar deposits, expressed as a percentage of total rock
• Breccia: A rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rock cemented together — often associated with mineralising fluid pathways in replacement-style systems
• Replacement deposit: A mineralisation style where hot fluids replace existing host rock with fluorite and other minerals
• Up-dip / Down-dip: Refers to the direction along a tilted geological structure — up toward the surface or down toward depth
• NSR (Net Smelter Return): A royalty calculated as a percentage of revenues from ore processed at a smelter or refinery
• Open pit: A surface mining method involving removal of surface material to access shallow ore bodies

A System That Was Barely Tested — The Upside Case

Perhaps the most important takeaway from this announcement is not what was found, but what remains untested. The four UCC holes were drilled into the eastern bounding fault at the southern corner of what is now understood to be an exposed mineral system with a surface footprint of approximately 3,000 square metres.

Furthermore, several structural and geological factors suggest the system is substantially larger than the historic drilling captured:

• The drill holes targeted the margin of the system — not the high-grade core subsequently exposed in the open pit
• Multiple core sections at the base of holes H1, H3, and H4 were logged with fractured limestone breccia and calcite/possible fluorspar vein material — and were never assayed
• The mineral system extends up-dip from the drill road, with a projected thickness of at least 20 to 30 metres in that direction
• The system has never been drilled at depth
• Recent field reconnaissance by OD6 suggests some fault zones within the pit may represent hydrothermal feeder structures, which typically indicate potential for mineralisation at depth

Managing Director Brett Hazelden commented:

"Historic drilling at Horseshoe indicates a rare combination of exceptional high grade and significant widths, with results well above typical global fluorspar benchmarks. Importantly, these intercepts were returned from the margin of the system, not the high-grade core later exposed in open pit mining… This indicates the system has the potential to be both higher grade and larger than intercepted in historic drilling. The system remains open in all directions and untested at depth, which in conjunction with recent fieldwork confirming extensive mineralisation, provides significant exploration upside and a clear pathway for targeted drilling to define a large scale fluorspar system."

The Quinn Fluorspar Project: A Broader Context

Horseshoe is one component of a larger opportunity for OD6. The Quinn Fluorspar Project, located approximately 220 kilometres north of Las Vegas, Nevada, encompasses multiple fluorspar occurrences across a significant land package.

Quinn Fluorspar Project — Key Assets at a Glance

The project is located in Nevada — a jurisdiction ranked second in the Fraser Institute's 2025 Mining Attractiveness Index — and sits approximately 300 kilometres by road from the US Strategic Minerals Reserve at Hawthorne, Nevada.

Fluorspar is listed as a Critical Mineral by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and has applications spanning hydrofluoric acid production, AI semiconductor chip etching, advanced battery technologies, nuclear fuel processing, defence, and aerospace. The United States currently imports 100% of all fluorspar consumed domestically, with approximately 68% of global supply sourced from China (USGS 2024).

This structural dependency makes domestic exploration projects of this nature strategically relevant within the broader US critical minerals landscape.

What Comes Next: A Clear Exploration Pathway

OD6 has outlined a systematic programme of work ahead of maiden drilling, progressing through geological validation and permitting steps. The due diligence and exploration pipeline includes:

1. Digitise scanned paper logs and cross-sections into a geological model
2. Receive and interpret assay results from the Company's own recently collected samples (submitted to ALS Global laboratory in Reno, Nevada — turnaround anticipated at 4 to 6 weeks)
3. Expand systematic channel and rock chip sampling across the project
4. Validate and replicate historic high-grade results with new sampling
5. Complete detailed geological and structural mapping
6. Execute soil geochemistry programmes
7. Identify and prioritise drill targets
8. Initiate permitting for maiden drilling through the US Forest Service
9. Progress metallurgical testwork planning

The pending assay results from OD6's own sampling programme represent the nearest-term catalyst. These results will either confirm or provide additional context to the historic UCC data — and given the field observations to date are described as broadly consistent with historic records, this is a development investors should monitor closely.

Investment Thesis: Why Horseshoe Demands Attention

Several factors combine to create a genuinely differentiated opportunity at the exploration stage.

The grade profile is exceptional. Intercepts averaging above 60–70% CaF₂ over meaningful widths, starting from surface, place Horseshoe in a select category globally. These are not grades that require significant dilution to be economically interesting — they are extraordinary as raw ore.

The system was barely explored. Four holes, drilled at the edge of the deposit, with large sections unassayed. The high-grade core — already visible in the open pit — was never drilled. Depth extensions have never been tested. The exploration upside from such a limited historical programme is, therefore, substantial.

The strategic context for fluorspar is structurally compelling. The USA's complete reliance on imported fluorspar, combined with fluorspar's classification as a US Critical Mineral and its role in next-generation technologies, creates an environment where domestic deposits are being scrutinised seriously.

Nevada is a world-class mining jurisdiction. The Fraser Institute's ranking of Nevada as second globally for mining attractiveness in 2025 reflects the regulatory predictability, infrastructure, and institutional framework that reduces development risk compared to many other jurisdictions.

The broader portfolio adds optionality. Beyond fluorspar, OD6 holds a significant rare earths project at Splinter Rock in Western Australia — with an Indicated Resource of 119Mt @ 1,632ppm TREO and Inferred Resource of 563Mt @ 1,275ppm TREO — and the Gulf Creek Copper-Zinc VMS Project in New South Wales, where maiden drilling in 2025 confirmed high-grade copper at depth.

Why Investors Should Keep a Close Eye on OD6 Metals

OD6 Metals is at a clear inflection point. The validation of the UCC historic dataset — combined with the Company's own ongoing fieldwork — is building a compelling geological case for a large-scale, high-grade fluorspar system at Horseshoe.

The upcoming receipt of assay results from the ALS Reno laboratory, followed by the progression to maiden drilling permitting, represents a series of near-term catalysts that could progressively de-risk and expand the known extent of the deposit.

The rarity of high-grade, near-surface fluorspar mineralisation at this scale — in a tier-one jurisdiction, targeting a commodity with zero domestic US production — positions this project as one of the more distinctive critical minerals exploration stories on the ASX right now.

Key Takeaway:

OD6 Metals is advancing one of the most striking fluorspar exploration stories currently on the ASX, with OD6 Metals historic drilling results at the Horseshoe fluorspar deposit in Nevada confirming grades up to 93.7% CaF₂ from near surface — and crucially, the high-grade core and all depth extensions remain untested. With the Company's own assay results imminent and a maiden drill programme on the horizon, investors have a series of tangible catalysts to watch in the months ahead.

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