Raptor Metals Ltd (ASX: RAP) has announced the commencement of a core cutting and multi-element sampling program at its 100%-owned Chester Project in New Brunswick, Canada. Raptor Metals Ltd is an Australian-listed exploration company focused on Canadian copper exploration across its Chester, Coyote, and Foghorn projects in the historic Bathurst Mining Camp. The new program aims to assess the polymetallic potential of the Chester Project by strengthening the existing assay dataset for a broader suite of metals.
The initiative involves sampling approximately 1,050 metres of archived core from 20 historic diamond drill holes. These selected holes are all situated within the footprint of Chester’s existing JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate, which stands at 6.685 Mt at 1.07% Cu (Indicated and Inferred). The historic drill logs indicated intersections of massive sulphide mineralisation, but a comprehensive multi-element analysis for metals such as lead, zinc, silver, cobalt, and indium was not consistently performed. This program seeks to rectify these data gaps, providing a more complete understanding of Chester’s volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) system.
Managing Director Brett Wallace highlighted that Chester already possesses a robust copper resource, but its broader suite of metals has not been fully reflected in previous resource evaluations. He noted that the Bathurst Mining Camp is known for its polymetallic VMS endowment and that much of the historic core had not been tested for these additional elements. This cost-effective and timely approach utilises existing core to generate crucial geological and geochemical data, supporting the next phase of geological modelling and Mineral Resource evaluation. The core cutting and sampling commenced on 5 September 2026, with assay results expected within four to six weeks following sample dispatch.
