OD6 Metals Reports 24m at 51.1% CaF₂ From Blue Bell Fluorspar Channels
Key Takeaways
- OD6's maiden Blue Bell channel sampling returned 24m @ 51.1% CaF₂, with rock chips up to 98.4% CaF₂ and multiple chips above 90%.
- Blue Bell becomes the fourth high-priority Quinn target, the first payoff from the 23 June 2026 claims expansion to 226 claims over roughly 1,890 hectares.
- Large-format metallurgical samples returned 91.6% CaF₂, and OD6 sees the pale fluorspar against dark volcanics as highly amenable to ore sorting, though testwork is ongoing.
- No drilling has been reported or scheduled at Blue Bell, and no Mineral Resource exists, so these are surface exploration results only.
- Horseshoe and Mammoth lead the next catalysts, with USFS permitting underway for a proposed early-2027 maiden drilling and bulk sampling program.
Blue Bell fluorspar delivers 24m @ 51.1% CaF₂ in maiden exploration
OD6 Metals has reported maiden channel sampling results from Blue Bell, approximately 12km south of Horseshoe within the Quinn Fluorspar Project in Nevada, with channel intercepts including 24m @ 51.1% CaF₂ and rock chips up to 98.4% CaF₂. CaF₂ is calcium fluoride, the chemical name for fluorspar, and the percentage shows how much of each sample is the mineral.
These are the first substantive exploration results from outside Quinn’s established priority exploration area. The ground was only recently staked, following the claims expansion announced on 23 June 2026.
The Blue Bell sampling is the first payoff from the district-scale Quinn expansion, which widened the claim package well beyond the original priority exploration area and brought several new fluorspar occurrences into the project.
Other key results from the sampling:
- 28m @ 29.2% CaF₂, including 8m @ 50.7%
- 12m @ 39.7% CaF₂, including 7m @ 60.2%
- Multiple rock chips exceeding 90% CaF₂
For investors, this is an early, high-grade data point for the company’s strategy of consolidating a much larger prospective fluorspar district.
Results at a glance
The table below sets out the three channel intercepts as reported in the announcement.
| Channel | Length (m) | CaF₂ (%) | Samples | Max CaF₂ (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluebell_Back1 (footwall stockwork) | 12.0 | 39.7 | 12 | 99.5 |
| Bluebell_Back2 (footwall stockwork) | 28.0 | 29.2 | 14 | 87.3 |
| Bluebell_Front1 (footwall stockwork behind high grade vein) | 24.0 | 51.1 | 12 | 83.4 |
Channel samples are taken along historic pit walls and exposed areas, and the announcement states they do not represent true width. No drilling has been reported.
Management view
Managing Director Brett Hazelden said the results carry weight beyond the grades themselves.
Brett Hazelden, Managing Director
“These are exceptional first-pass results from Blue Bell… However, the significance of Blue Bell extends well beyond the grades themselves.”
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Inside the Blue Bell system
Blue Bell combines a narrow, very high-grade vein with broader zones of lower-grade breccia and stockwork. Breccia is rock made of broken fragments cemented together, while stockwork is a network of small veins cutting through the host rock.
- A high-grade main vein 20cm to 2m wide, with assays >90% CaF₂, seen over about 40m of exposure and dipping steeply (70 to 80 degrees) to the north
- Footwall breccia and stockwork zones hosted in volcanics over a zone >70m
- A mapped footprint of roughly 70m by 100m, open along strike to the east under talus cover and to the west through altered volcanics, with extensional assays pending
Large format samples collected for metallurgical and ore-sorting testwork, announced on 12 August 2026, returned 91.6% CaF₂. That corroborates the surface sampling.
The company is candid that the exposed footprint is relatively small compared with Horseshoe, Mammoth and Big Jim. The steep dip does, however, afford drill targets from the valley below.
No Mineral Resource has been defined at Blue Bell, so these are exploration results only.
Why ore sorting and hub-and-spoke matter
Fluorspar and ore sorting explained
Fluorspar is designated a critical mineral in the United States and is used across industrial, semiconductor, energy and defence supply chains. Quinn’s low impurity mineralisation supports potential production of Metspar or premium Acidspar, which is defined in the announcement as >97% CaF₂, following beneficiation.
At Blue Bell, the mineralisation is white to pale-green fluorspar hosted in dark, altered volcanics. That visual contrast is the basis on which ore sorting works, a process that separates richer rock from waste.
OD6 considers the material highly amenable to sorting. It sees potential, subject to ongoing testwork, to upgrade breccia and stockwork material into a saleable Metspar or premium Acidspar feed with simple, low-capital processing.
If that proves out, it could mean lower processing costs and less capital intensity. That is still unproven until testwork is complete.
Fourth priority target and hub-and-spoke strategy
Blue Bell becomes the fourth high-priority prospect alongside Horseshoe to Big Jim Corridor and Mammoth. It also supports a potential hub-and-spoke development strategy, in which multiple satellite fluorspar deposits could ultimately supply a centralised processing facility, subject to further exploration, metallurgical studies and economic assessment.
Key project attributes include:
- 100% ownership of 226 claims covering ~1,890 hectares
- +20 known fluorspar occurrences
- An 8km fertile mineralised corridor
- A US market that remains 100% net import reliant
Future work such as drilling requires permitting through the US Forest Service. A 2% NSR (net smelter royalty) applies to future production at Horseshoe, Mammoth and Bonanza, but does not apply to Blue Bell.
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Next steps for Quinn
The company’s planned activities include:
- Horseshoe and Mammoth: progress USFS permitting and preparations for the proposed early-2027 maiden drilling and bulk sampling program
- Blue Bell: complete geological interpretation, follow-up mapping and sampling, and assess extensions to the identified mineralised zones
- District-wide exploration: continue evaluating additional known fluorspar occurrences across the expanded claim package
- Metallurgy and ore sorting: advance testwork to assess beneficiation options and potential Metspar and Acidspar product pathways
- Future permitting: plan and progressively undertake the environmental and cultural studies required to support subsequent drilling applications, including Blue Bell
For investors, Blue Bell adds scale potential and optionality at an early stage. Drilling, permitting and testwork are the next catalysts to watch, though no drilling at Blue Bell has been scheduled.
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