Tivan’s Sandover Returns 74.3% CaF2 With 100% Drill Hit Rate

A single reverse circulation hole at Tivan Limited’s (ASX: TVN) Sandover Fluorite Project has returned 3 metres grading 74.3% calcium fluoride from around 28 metres depth. That is the kind of in-situ number that reframes a project bought for roughly $1 million in November 2024, less than two years ago.

The peak grade is the headline, but it is not the story on its own.

Tivan completed 58 RC holes for 5,884 metres at Sandover in June 2026, and every single hole intersected fluorite mineralisation. A 100% hit rate across a program of that size tells you the peak grade sits inside a deposit with real continuity, not a lucky vein caught by one drill bit.

Fluorite, sold commercially as fluorspar, is now on Australia’s Critical Minerals List, and Tivan already has a Japanese strategic partner circling the asset. That combination is what makes these Sandover fluorite drilling results worth reading closely.

Here is what the numbers tell you about where Sandover sits on the development curve, and what the next milestone actually demands before this becomes a defined resource.

Every hole hit: what Tivan’s 58-hole campaign actually returned

Start with the statistic that makes every grade below it credible: all 58 RC holes intersected fluorite. Across roughly 2.25 kilometres of outcropping mineralisation and seven separate fluorite reefs, Tivan drilled and did not miss once.

That matters because a single spectacular assay can flatter a deposit. A 100% intersection rate across nearly 5,884 metres cannot. It points to mineralisation that holds together along strike and down dip.

The composite intersections build the same picture, from breadth through to peak quality.

The widest came in at 21 metres at 14.5% CaF2 from 88 metres, including a richer 7 metres at 33.4% CaF2. Then 18 metres at 25.1% CaF2 from 30 metres, with a standout 7 metres at 54.9% CaF2 from 36 metres. A third hole returned 17 metres at 19.9% CaF2 from 92 metres, including 6 metres at 45.9% CaF2.

Peak intersection: 3 metres at 74.3% CaF2 from approximately 28 metres.

Assays also came back clean, with no deleterious elements reported. For a project aiming at acid-grade fluorspar, the segment of the market that demands the highest purity, a clean chemical profile removes one of the awkward variables that can sink a processing case before it starts.

For you as an investor, the read is straightforward. Consistent intersection across every hole, combined with several high-grade composite intervals, means Sandover’s geological risk at this stage is materially lower than a project relying on a handful of scattered hits.

Why Reefs A, C, and E have been elevated to priority status

The seven reefs were not created equal, and Tivan’s decision to rank three of them tells you the company is now thinking like a developer rather than an explorer.

Stage Two tested all seven zones across the 2.25 kilometre trend. The campaign’s most important structural outcome was the confirmation of Reefs A, C, and E as priority targets for the next, resource-focused phase of drilling.

That ranking reflects more than raw grade. It combines grade consistency, structural position, and the potential for tonnage growth around the main veins.

Drilling identified fluorite stockwork mineralisation sitting adjacent to the primary vein structures. Stockwork means a dense network of thin, mineralised veinlets threading through the surrounding rock, and it matters because it expands the potential volume of ore beyond the main reef itself.

Three characteristics lifted Reefs A, C, and E above the rest:

• Grade consistency across the drilled intersections rather than isolated spikes
• Structural continuity that supports reliable geological modelling
• Mineralisation that remains open both along strike and at depth

That last point is the one worth holding onto. When mineralisation is described as open, it means drilling has not yet reached the edges of the mineralised zone in those directions.

For a reader gauging where Sandover sits in its lifecycle, an open envelope suggests the resource eventually defined is more likely to be a starting figure than a final one. The stockwork discovery adds a tonnage dimension that simply was not on the table when Tivan paid $1 million for the ground.

There is a capital-efficiency angle here too. Concentrating on three defined reefs gives Tivan a focused Stage Three target, rather than an expensive re-drill of all seven zones.

What 74.3% CaF2 means in a market built on grade

To understand why Sandover’s numbers carry commercial weight, start with what the market actually buys. Acid-grade fluorspar, the premium product, must be refined to greater than 97% CaF2 before it reaches customers.

Getting there from raw ore is expensive, and this is where in-situ grade becomes a cost-structure advantage. The higher the starting grade, the less waste rock has to be stripped out during processing, which lowers beneficiation costs, improves yield, and reduces tailings volumes.

An intercept at 74.3% CaF2 is already most of the way to the acid-grade threshold before any processing begins.

That premium product feeds a demand base that is broadening, not narrowing. Acid-grade fluorspar is the primary feedstock for hydrofluoric acid, and its end uses include:

• Anhydrous hydrofluoric acid production
• Low-emission fluorocarbon refrigerants
• High-performance fluoropolymers
• Lithium-ion battery electrolytes for the EV sector

Pricing has held firm on constrained supply. Through 2025 and into mid-2026, global acid-grade fluorspar prices generally sat between US$420 and US$490 per tonne, with the USGS reporting an average US import unit value of around US$470 per tonne.

Acid-grade fluorspar pricing has held within a relatively tight band through 2025 and into mid-2026, but fluorspar pricing standards and the classification frameworks that underpin benchmark assessments vary significantly across contract structures and delivery terms, which affects how developers and offtakers agree on reference prices.

Acid-grade fluorspar pricing: generally US$420 to US$490 per tonne through 2025 and into mid-2026.

The strategic backdrop sharpens the picture. Fluorine was added to Australia’s Critical Minerals List in December 2023, and China has historically dominated global fluorspar supply, with research suggesting a share around 64% (a figure that should be treated with caution). Japan’s push to diversify away from single-source supply is precisely the demand driver Tivan is positioning against.

That positioning is not theoretical. In October 2025, Tivan signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sumitomo Corporation covering a development pathway specifically for Sandover, not just its flagship Speewah project.

The Sumitomo MoU positions Sandover inside a broader structural shift: the Australia-Japan critical minerals partnership has expanded well beyond individual company agreements to encompass government-backed financing frameworks and supply chain commitments that give Japanese industrial buyers strong incentive to secure non-Chinese fluorspar sources.

For you, the takeaway is that Sandover’s grade profile puts it in the part of the market that commands premium pricing and attracts strategic partners. In a market where one country controls the bulk of supply, a clean, high-grade Australian source has an offtake argument that lower-grade deposits cannot make.

Stage Three and the pathway to a maiden resource estimate

Confirmed continuity is worthwhile, but it is not a resource. The next phase is where Sandover either earns a defined tonnage and grade or does not.

Stage Three drilling is designed to build enough data density across Reefs A, C, and E to support a maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate. A JORC resource is a concentration of minerals with reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, classified by confidence as Inferred, Indicated, or Measured.

A JORC Mineral Resource Estimate is the formal confidence threshold that converts drill data into a publicly reportable quantity; the classification system sorts results into Inferred, Indicated, and Measured categories based on the density and reliability of the underlying data, and the confidence level of the eventual classification will shape how institutions and strategic partners value Sandover.

Before that, Tivan has flagged an Exploration Target as an interim step. An Exploration Target is an estimated range of potential tonnage and grade based on existing data, and it carries less certainty than a full JORC resource because it is not yet supported by the drilling density JORC requires.

The sequence looks like this:

1. Stage Two results confirmed, completed June 2026
2. Exploration Target development, the next planned step
3. Stage Three drilling to support resource definition
4. Maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, the target outcome

One point deserves precision. As of the date of this article, September 2026, Tivan has not disclosed a public calendar deadline for delivering the maiden MRE.

That absence changes what you should watch. The near-term trigger is the commencement of Stage Three, not a resource date that has not been set.

The corporate context supports the strategy without guaranteeing the outcome. Tivan completed its acquisition of the adjacent Molyhil Tungsten-Molybdenum Project on 29 January 2026, deepening its Northern Territory land position, and carried a market capitalisation of roughly $481 million in mid-September 2026.

There is also precedent within Tivan’s own portfolio. The Speewah Feasibility Study was approved by joint venture partners in March 2026, and Japan Fluorite Corporation completed a $5 million Tranche 2 equity investment into the Speewah vehicle between April and June 2026. Both show Tivan can move a fluorite asset from drilling toward defined milestones with Japanese capital alongside.

What the Sandover results change, and what remains to be proven

Stage Two has genuinely de-risked parts of Sandover. It has not settled the question that matters most for a production case.

Three things are now materially confirmed: spatial continuity across all 58 holes, premium in-situ grades on the priority reefs, and a clean assay profile suited to acid-grade processing. Each of those was an open question before June.

The variables that remain open are the ones that decide commercial viability.

The Northern Territory backdrop is a real constraint. The NT Minerals Development Taskforce has identified infrastructure gaps and land access as the highest project risks for emerging critical minerals projects in the Territory, and moving from resource to production remains highly capital intensive.

Northern Territory infrastructure gaps are not an abstract risk for Sandover: the NT Minerals Development Taskforce has identified road, rail, and water access constraints as the most material obstacles for emerging critical minerals projects in the Territory, and the MCA’s $44 billion infrastructure investment case was assembled specifically to close those gaps for projects at exactly the stage Sandover is approaching.

The critical question Stage Three must answer is not whether mineralisation exists. Stage Two settled that. It is whether the tonnage sitting between and around the drilled reefs is large enough to underpin a commercial operation.

Tivan’s answer to the capital challenge is partnership. The Sumitomo MoU and the Speewah joint venture precedent both point to a strategy of de-risking commercialisation through strategic partners rather than the balance sheet alone.

Sandover has travelled from a speculative $1 million purchase to a project with confirmed high-grade continuity along 2.25 kilometres of strike. The next twelve months, and specifically the tonnage Stage Three defines, will decide whether that continuity carries enough scale for the Sumitomo relationship to progress beyond a memorandum.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Investors should conduct their own research and consult with financial professionals before making investment decisions. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Financial projections are subject to market conditions and various risk factors, and forward-looking statements are speculative and subject to change based on market developments and company performance.