November 14, 2012
Happy Creek drills 24.7 metres of 0.68% W03 at Fox tungsten property
12-21November 14, 2012 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Happy Creek Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:HPY, the “Company”) announces 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.
On the Fox property, four prospects named the 708, BN, RC (Ridley Creek) and BK span a northerly trending distance of approximately 3.0 kilometres. In 2010 and 2011, trenching results include 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. On September 18, October 3 and 17, and November 1, 2012, the Company announced additional results.
Final 2012 drill results from the RC prospect include F12-18 containing 24.7 metres of 0.68% W03 starting at 18.0 metres depth. This includes 1.0 metre grading 9.08% W03, 0.61% zinc, 4.6 g/t indium and 0.07 g/t gold. The true thickness is estimated to be approximately 90% of the interval thickness.
David Blann, President and Chief Executive Officer of Happy Creek states: “The Fox property has again delivered globally top-tier tungsten grades that are within conceptual open pit mining parameters. The RC prospect is a new deposit that remains wide open to further expansion. We believe the Fox property is an exciting and unique opportunity for shareholders to participate in a new tungsten discovery.”
Summary of RC Prospect Final Drill Results
From (m) |
To (m) |
Interval (m) |
W03 % |
W03 kg/tonne |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hole | |||||
F11-02 | 5.7 | 10.85 | 5.15 | 0.91 | 9.1 |
F11-07 | 14.3 | 19.0 | 4.7 | 1.02 | 10.0 |
F11-08 | 8.25 | 20.65 | 12.4 | 0.74 | 12.2 |
F12-01 | 14.0 | 32.4 | 19.4 | 0.82 | 8.2 |
F12-02 | 13.0 | 25.0 | 12.0 | 0.21 | 2.1 |
F12-07 | 13.0 | 16.0 | 3.0 | 1.18 | 11.8 |
F12-09 | 15.0 | 26.0 | 11.0 | 0.80 | 8.0 |
F12-10 | 17.0 | 19.0 | 8.0 | 0.46 | 4.6 |
F12-11 | 27.0 | 41.0 | 14.0 | 0.68 | 6.8 |
F12-13 | 19.0 | 22.4 | 3.4 | 0.64 | 6.4 |
F12-17 | 20.0 | 40.0 | 20.0 | 0.63 | 6.3 |
F12-18 | 18.0 | 42.7 | 24.7 | 0.68 | 6.8 |
F12-18 is located at the collar of vertical hole F12-17 and drilled at -55 degrees to the east. Results indicate good continuity of thickness and grade with F12-17. F12-19 was drilled at -55 degrees towards the southeast and returned 19.0 metres of 0.17% W03 starting at 18.0 metres. This includes 5.0 metres grading 0.32% W03. This hole is thought to represent the southeast edge of a higher grade portion of the deposit. To date, an area approximately 165 metres by 75 metres in dimension contains altogether 13 drill holes with potentially economic tungsten grades. Assays also indicate positive zinc, indium (a rare metal used in modern electronics), and locally gold and silver values. Importantly, the higher grade and thickness of mineralization in the western-most drill holes (F12-09, F12-11 and F12-17) is open to further expansion. F11-02 is the southern-most drill hole in the RC prospect, and the mineralized zone in this area also remains open in extent.
At the RC prospect, all drill holes have intersected positive to potentially economic grades of tungsten that confirm a large scale mineralized system. A map of the drill locations and final results are pending and will be posted on the Company’s website.
Outside of China, globally commercial tungsten grades are generally greater than 0.24% W03. Very few mines average greater than 0.45% W03 and almost all are underground operations. In June 2012 the market price for W03 was around $30/kg and as such, a grade of 0.68%W03 is equivalent to 2.65% copper or 204.0 g/t silver (2). A tungsten grade of 9.08% W03 is equivalent to 35.38% copper or 2,724 g/t silver.
The Fox property contains positive tungsten values in drill core, outcrop, stream sediment and soil in an area approximately ten kilometres by three kilometres in dimension that remains largely under-explored. Approximately four kilometres to the south of the Ridley Creek area, the Nightcrawler zone has returned encouraging tungsten values; widely spaced drilling in an area 1.5 kilometres by 500 metres in dimension include 5.0 metres of 0.33% W03, 2.0 metres of 0.74% W03 and surface samples contain over 3.5% W03. As with the Ridley Creek area, the Nightcrawler also remains open to further expansion.
Happy Creek has advanced the Fox prospect from a very early stage to a new tungsten discovery with large scale and grades thought to be comparable to some of the best tungsten mines or advanced stage projects world-wide. The near-surface, potentially open-pit configuration and the nearby resource-based infrastructure are additional positive aspects of this project.
The BK and BN prospects are located a kilometre to the north and south of the RC prospect, respectively, and drill results from these areas 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 and BQ size drill core using a rock saw or hand-splitter, and a blank, standard or duplicate are inserted into the sample string every tenth sample. Samples are sealed and 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 to provide a preliminary result. When these assays return greater than 1.0% W, the sample is subjected to an XRF assay and all four assays are averaged for a final result. Final results for holes F12-1 to F12-19 are presented here. In general, the individual tungsten assay results are around +/- 12% of the final average and are considered reasonable for a nugget effect inherent to coarse grained scheelite/tungsten mineralization. W is converted to W03 with a multiplication factor of 1.261. (1) Wikipedia. (2) Copper/silver equivalent grade does not account for metallurgical recovery and assumes prices of $7.7/kg copper, $1.0/gram silver and $30.0/kg W03.
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.
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