OD6 Metals Demonstrates Strong Ore Sorting Potential at High-Grade Quinn Fluorspar Project

Exceptional Grades and Ore Sorting Performance

OD6 Metals Ltd (ASX:OD6) has unveiled highly encouraging metallurgical and sensor-based ore sorting results from its Quinn Fluorspar Project in Nevada, spotlighting the project's potential to produce clean, high-grade fluorspar products with reduced processing costs. The standout highlight is the Big Jim deposit, where head assays returned a remarkable 98.3% CaF₂, corroborated by mineralogical analysis showing 98.6% fluorite content before any beneficiation.

Using TOMRA's advanced laser and X-ray transmission (XRT) sorting technologies, OD6 demonstrated clear discrimination between high-grade fluorspar, lower-grade material, and barren waste across multiple deposits including Horseshoe and Blue Bell. This capability to reject mining dilution at a coarse crush size offers a compelling route to upgrade ore early, potentially slashing the volume of material requiring energy-intensive milling and flotation.

Simple Mineralogy and Low Impurities Support Product Quality

Independent quantitative X-ray diffraction (QXRD) analyses confirm fluorite as the sole fluorine-bearing mineral, with gangue minerals limited to quartz, calcite, and minor clays. Such straightforward mineralogy is advantageous for beneficiation, as these gangue minerals can be effectively targeted for removal.

Crucially, multi-element assays reveal very low levels of deleterious elements such as arsenic, cadmium, base metals, sulphur, and uranium. These impurity levels already meet the stringent specifications for both Metspar (>60% CaF₂) and Acidspar (>97% CaF₂) products prior to any upgrading, enhancing the project's prospects for clean concentrate production.

Processing Pathways and Potential Cost Savings

The ore sorting results suggest a low-capital expenditure (CAPEX) processing pathway, where sensor-based sorting can be applied immediately after primary crushing. This approach could produce a direct shipping Metspar product with minimal beneficiation, delivering near-term cash flow potential ahead of a full flotation circuit to produce higher-value Acidspar.

Rejecting waste early at coarse particle size promises reductions in grinding and milling power, equipment wear, flotation reagent consumption, water use, and tailings generation. The Core Resources metallurgical program is advancing as planned, integrating grind optimisation, heavy media separation, and flotation tests to refine the processing flowsheet tailored to Quinn’s diverse mineralisation domains.

Next Steps in Metallurgical Development

Building on these promising sighter tests, OD6 plans larger-scale TOMRA sorting trials with 500–1,000 kg bulk samples to quantify mass rejection, grade uplift, recovery rates, and optimal particle size. Concurrently, the company will assess Metspar product specifications to determine if high-grade sorted material can be sold with minimal downstream processing, while also optimising Acidspar flotation circuits to meet >97% CaF₂ targets.

Ultimately, OD6 aims to integrate ore sorting, heavy media separation, grinding, and flotation results into a comprehensive processing flowsheet. This will inform future engineering and economic studies, advancing the Quinn Project toward development in a market hungry for domestic US fluorspar supply amid global reliance on imports.

Strategic Positioning in Critical Minerals Supply

With the US importing 100% of its fluorspar and classifying it as a critical mineral, Quinn’s clean, high-grade Nevada source aligns well with strategic supply chain needs, including for defence and advanced technology sectors. OD6’s deliberate sampling strategy, capturing a range of mineralisation and waste types, provides a realistic foundation to evaluate mining dilution and processing performance, a critical factor for project economics.