October 17, 2012

Happy Creek drills 14.0 metres of 0.65% W03 in 60 metre step-out hole at Fox tungsten property

12-18
October 17, 2012 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Happy Creek Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:HPY, the “Company”) is pleased to announce additional drill results from its 100% owned, 162 square kilometre Fox tungsten-molybdenum property. The Fox property is located approximately 75 kilometres northeast of 100 Mile House, British Columbia (B.C.), Canada.

At the Ridley Creek area, four prospects called the 708, BN, RC and BK span a distance of approximately 3.0 kilometres. In 2010, trenching returned 1.0 metre of 2.38% W03 (tungsten trioxide), 0.40 metres of 11.10% W03, 7.0 metres of 0.80% W03, and 4.6 metres of 0.85% W03 at each prospect, respectively.

In 2011, the first ever drilling at the RC prospect returned very positive results including 7.35 metres of 1.22% W03 and 4.7 metres of 1.02% W03. On September 18, and October 3 2012, the Company announced additional results that are summarized in the table below.

New results from the RC prospect include vertical hole F12-11 with 14.0 metres of 0.65% W03 starting at 27.0 metres depth. This includes 1.6 metres grading 3.82% W03, 0.45% zinc, 3.1 g/t indium and 0.10 g/t gold. Results continue to indicate strong tungsten grades along with zinc and the rare metal indium. F12-11 is located approximately 60 metres northwest of F12-09 that returned 11.0 metres grading 0.82% W03. The near surface zone dips gently (approximately 10 to 16 degrees) west and the interval in F12-11 is thought to reflect near true-thickness. F12-11 also confirms the mineralized zone extends for approximately 125 metres beyond a trench containing 5.0 metres of 0.98% W03, and the zone remains open in extent.

David Blann, President and Chief Executive Officer of Happy Creek states: “F12-11 is another excellent result that is 60 metres away from a similar result in F12-09. This project continues to advance nicely. Drilling is beginning to outline a near-surface zone containing strong tungsten grades. We have tested only a small portion of the three kilometre long trend, providing us with large scale potential.”

Preliminary 2012 RC Zone Drill Results Summary

Hole	From (m)	To (m)	Interval (m)	W03 %	W03 kg/tonne
F12-01	15.0	32.4	17.4	0.90	9.0
F12-02	16.0	23.0	7.0	0.31	3.1
F12-07	13.0	17.6	4.6	0.75	7.5
F12-09	15.0	26.0	11.0	0.82	8.2
F12-10	17.0	25.0	8.0	0.46	4.6
F12-11	27.0	41.0	14.0	0.65	6.5
F12-13	19.0	22.4	3.4	0.64	6.4

The tungsten bearing skarn zones are found within a favorable geological unit that is between 20 and 40 metres in thickness and starts at or very close to surface. Two holes were drilled at each drill station, the odd numbered holes being vertical and the even number holes at a -55 degree angle to the east. F12-10 is from the F12-09 setup and intersected 8.0 metres of 0.46% W03 starting at 17.0 metres. F12-12 is from the F12-11 setup and intersected multiple intervals of less than 0.10% W03 that is thought to represent an outer margin of the high grade zone. The four holes indicate potential for the grade and thickness to be improving to the west. F12-13 is the northern most drill site in the RC zone, located approximately 30 metres north- northeast of F12-11. F12-13 is a vertical hole and intersected 3.4 metres of 0.65% W03 starting at 19.0 metres. The RC zone represents approximately 250 metres of the three kilometre long zone containing favorable geology and positive tungsten in outcrops. The zone remains undefined and open in extent.

Tungsten has the highest melting point and tensile strength, and the lowest vapour pressure and thermal expansion of all pure metals (1). The British Geological Survey has recently ranked tungsten as among the scarcest elements on earth and deemed it a strategic metal that is critical for industrial, military and electronic manufacturing applications.

On the Fox property, positive tungsten values occur in drill core, outcrop, stream sediment and soil in an area approximately three kilometres by 10 kilometres in dimension that remains largely under explored. To date, approximately 15% of the Ridley Creek area has been tested to a shallow depth. Approximately four kilometres to the south, the Nightcrawler zone has also returned encouraging tungsten values in drill core and outcrops in an area 1.5 km by 500 metres in dimension. Both areas remain open in extent.

Happy Creek is pleased to have advanced the Fox prospect from a very early stage to a new tungsten discovery. The geology, large scale and grades are thought to be comparable to some of the best tungsten mines or advanced stage projects world-wide. The near-surface, potentially open-pit configuration of the zone and the resource-based infrastructure nearby are additional positive aspects of this project.

Preliminary results for F12-14 to F12-29 and final tungsten results for all holes are pending.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

“David E Blann”
____________________
David E Blann, P.Eng.
President, CEO

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
David Blann, President, CEO
Corporate Office:
Phone: 604.662.8310
Email: Info@happycreekminerals.com
Website: www.happycreekminerals.com

Investor Relations:
James Berard Phone: 604-687-2768 Toll free: 1-877-459-5507

David Blann, P.Eng., is a Qualified Person as defined under Canadian NI43-101 regulations and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press release. Happy Creek employs a strong Quality Assurance and Control system for its drilling programs. Samples are cut from NQ size drill core using a rock saw, and a blank, standard or duplicate are inserted into the sample string every tenth sample. Samples are shipped to Agat Laboratories in Burnaby, B.C. where they are prepared and analyzed first by aqua regia digest and ICP + ICP-MS finish. Samples that return greater than 50 ppm W (tungsten) are then re-tested in triplicate using a peroxide fusion digestion and ICP-finish and are averaged giving preliminary results. For these assays that return greater than 1% W, the sample is subjected to a W Classical assay using XRF and results are pending. QC samples show good repeatability with peroxide fusion analyses in triplicate. W is converted to W03 with a multiplication factor of 1.261. (1) Wikipedia. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

You can view the Next News item:November 1st, 2012, Happy Creek drills 20.0 metres of 0.63% W03 near surface at Fox tungsten property

You can view the Previous News item:October 11th, 2012, Happy Creek trenches 5.0 metres of 0.76% copper, 2.09 g/t gold at Hawk property, B.C.

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