A 6 GHz, all‐permanent magnet, “volume‐type” Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) ion source has been initially tested at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The source has the following design properties: (1) an Al plasma chamber; (2) a mechanically adjustable, flat‐bottomed mirror magnetic field distribution tuned to the ECR condition; (3) a dodecapole cusp‐magnet for radial plasma confinement; (4) a Right‐Hand‐Circularly‐Polarized (RHCP) traveling wave RF injection system, (5) a movable three‐electrode extraction system, and (6) facility for conversion into a conventional minimum‐B magnetic field “surface” source configuration. Details of the source design, magnetic field distribution, operational parameters and initial results derived from first operation of the source (e.g., charge state spectra and intensity distributions for a given charge state) are provided for argon. © 2003 American Institute of Physics