Fox tungsten project updated to 486,000 tonnes of 0. 81 7 % W O 3 ( Indicated ) and 361,000 tonnes of 1.568% W O 3 (Inferred) January 2 6 th , 201
Happy Creek
’s
Fox tungsten
project
updated to
486,000
tonnes of 0.
81
7
% W
O
3
(
Indicated
)
and 361,000 tonnes of 1.568% W
O
3
(Inferred)
January 2
6
th
,
201
7
–
Vancouver, British Columbia. Happy Creek Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: HPY) (the
“Company
”
)
,
is pleased to
announce
an update
to its
mineral resource estimate completed in
accordance to NI 43
-
101
for
the
Ridley Creek
zone and a first
-
time resource for the
BN
zone
o
n
its 100% owned
Fox tungsten property
.
The Fox property is
located
75
km northeast of 100 Mile
House
in the
south
-
central
Cariboo, British Columbia
, Canada
.
The Fox property consists of a
recently discovered
, large scale, 10
km by 3 km
tungsten skarn
mineral system containing seven mineralized zones
at surface
.
All zones are open in extent.
The
current r
esource is for the Ridley Creek and BN
z
o
ne
s
.
The price used for the current estimate is
US$166.5/ MTU, or US$16.65/Kg WO
3
in concentrate.
The total Indicated
R
esources for the Ridley Creek
z
one amount to 486,000 tonnes grading
0.817% W
O
3
.
The
total Inferred
R
esource
is now
361,000 tonnes grading 1.568% WO
3
for the
Ridley Creek and BN
z
one
s
combined.
These grades are thought to be
comparable to the
Cantung
property
in the Northwest Territories, regarded as
among the
highest grade
mine
s
in the
western world
.
The selected cut
-
off for the material
amenable to open pit extraction is 0.2% W
O
3
.
For material ame
n
able to underground extraction
,
a
cut
-
off
of
0.55% W
O
3
was applied.
Table
1
:
Resource Estimate at
0.
2% and 0.55
% WO
3
Cut
-
off
ZONE
CLASSIFICATION
Cut
-
off
WO
3
(%)
Tonnes
(t)
WO
3
(%)
WO
3
MTU
WO
3
(kg)
Contained
Ridley Creek
Indicated in
-
pit
>0.2
329,000
0.729
250,000
2,500,000
Ridley Creek
Indicated
-
underground
>0.55
157,000
0.940
147,000
1,470,000
Ridley Creek zone
Indicated
total
486,000
0.817
397,000
3,970,000
Ridley Creek
Inferred in
-
pit
>0.2
14,000
0.630
9,000
90,000
Ridley Creek
Inferred
-
underground
>0.55
93,000
0.825
77,000
770,000
BN
Inferred
-
underground
>0.55
254,00
0
1.892
480,000
4,800,000
Ridley Creek and
BN zone
Inferred total
361,000
1.568
566,000
5,660,000
Note:
Cut
-
off determined by using a WO
3
price of
US$166.5
/MTU WO
3
in concentrate.
David
Blann, P.Eng., President
and
CEO, comments
: “
O
ne of o
ur stated goa
l
s
for 2016 was
to
expand the resource base
for the project
and we have increased
the total contained kg of WO
3
by two and a half times
while
significantly increas
ing
the overall resource grade.
The additional
drill
holes in Ridley Creek
provided
better geological contro
l. A tighter envelope on the high
-
grade
mineralization
with
a
re
-
co
nfigured
resource
pit
shell
ha
ve
captured
the
higher
grade
with a
low
strip ratio
of 3.3:1
.
Mineralization below the pit shell contains grade that is thought to be readily
accessible underground from the bottom of the pit.
We
also drilled
seven
more
succes
sful
holes
at the BN zone
that together with drill holes from 2012, has
returned
an
inferred resource grade
of 1.892% WO
3
.
The
Ridley Creek and BN
zones
remain open to further expansion along with
several others
that
have
only received limited exploration
work
to date
.
As a
new discovery in the
w
estern world, we are pleased with the results of the 2016 program
and we
plan to
continue
advancing the 100% owned Fox as a leading new tungsten project
.
”
A
summary
and geological interpretation
of exploration work
completed in 2016
along with
plans
for 201
7 are pending.
Table 2
a, b and c
shows the sensitivity of the model to changes in cut
-
off with the selected cut
-
off highlighted.
Table
2
a
:
Sensitivity to cut
-
off
grade
for the Ridley Creek zone within the resource constraining
pit
shell
Zone
Classification
WO
3
Cut
-
off
Tonnage
WO
3
WO
3
(%)
(T)
(%)
(MTU)
contained
Ridley Creek within the
resource constraining shell
Indicated
> 0.7
196,000
0.919
180,000
> 0.55
262,000
0.846
222,000
> 0.4
304,000
0.797
242,000
> 0.3
318,000
0.778
247,000
> 0.2
329,000
0.759
250,000
> 0.1
355,000
0.715
254,000
Inferred
> 0.7
7,000
0.764
5,000
>0.55
9,000
0.727
7,000
> 0.4
13,000
0.661
9,000
> 0.3
14,000
0.641
9,000
> 0.2
14,000
0.630
9,000
> 0.1
15,000
0.611
9,000
Table
2
b
:
Sensitivity to cut
-
off
grade
for the Ridley Creek zone below the resource constraining
shell
(Underground amenable)
Zone
Classification
WO
3
Cut
-
off
Tonnage
WO
3
WO
3
(%)
(T)
(%)
(MTU)
contained
Ridley Creek
b
elow the
resource constraining shell
(Underground)
Indicated
> 1.0
60,000
1.273
76,000
> 0.8
92,000
1.139
105,000
> 0.7
111,000
1.073
120,000
> 0.6
137,000
0.994
136,000
> 0.55
157,000
0.940
147,000
> 0.4
208,000
0.827
172,000
> 0.3
231,000
0.780
180,000
Inferred
> 1.0
15,000
1.189
18,000
> 0.8
43,000
0.988
43,000
> 0.7
65,000
0.910
59,000
> 0.6
85,000
0.849
72,000
> 0.55
93,000
0.825
77,000
> 0.4
131,000
0.725
95,000
> 0.3
148,000
0.681
101,000
Table
2
c
:
Sensitivity to cut
-
off
grade
for the BN Zone
Inferred resource amenable to underground
extraction.
Zone
Classification
WO
3
Cut
-
off
Tonnage
WO
3
WO
3
(%)
(T)
(%)
(MTU)
BN Zone
Inferred
> 1.0
191,000
2.252
431,000
> 0.8
222,000
2.067
458,000
> 0.7
237,000
1.985
469,000
> 0.6
248,000
1.924
477,000
> 0.55
254,000
1.892
480,000
> 0.4
272,000
1.798
489,000
> 0.3
291,000
1.702
495,000
The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources in this estimation are conceptua
l in nature,
and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred Resources as an Indicated or
Measured Resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an
Indicated or Measured Resource category.
Mineral R
esources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Tungsten a
ssays are reported in percent WO
3
(tungsten trioxide), the compound for which
tungsten market prices are published. Quantities of WO
3
are traditionally reported in M
etric Ton
Units
,
which are equal to 10
kg of WO
3
.
For example, a
grade of 0.
8
% W
O
3
contains
8
kg of
W
O
3
/tonne.
A NI
43
-
101 t
echnical
r
eport for the
Fox
Tungsten Project mineral resource estimate will be filed
on S
EDAR
within 45 days.
NOTES ON THE
MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE PARAMETERS AND METHOD
Mineral resources are estimated in conformance with the CIM Mineral Resource
definitions referred to in NI 43
-
101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
.
This
mineral resource estimate is an update of the
March 15th
, 201
6
estimate conducted
by
Geoquest Consulting
Ltd.
and
AGP Mining Consultant
s Inc. covering the Ridley
Creek Zone (RC Zone). The estimate is also a first
-
time resource estimate for the B
N
z
one
.
The estimate was completed based on the concept of a small scale, open pit
and
underground room and pillar
operation
for the RC Zone and a small scale underground
room and pillar mining operation for the BN Zone
. No other zones on the Fox Tungsten
Proj
ect were evaluated.
All samples
prior to the 2016 drill campaign
were sent to the Agat Laboratory facility
in Vancouver, B.C., using a chain of custody, where they were prepared and analyzed
first with an aqua regia digest and ICP
-
ICP/MS finish to provide
a multi
-
element
analyses. For samples within and adjacent
to the
tungsten
-
mineralized domain, a
peroxide fusion digestion and ICP/OES finish was performed in triplicate and
averaged, providing results in percent W (tungsten). A portion of these that retur
ned
greater than 0.6% tungsten, were again repeated using XRF analyses.
For the 2016 drill campaign, the samples were sent to SGS Laboratory facility located
in Vancouver. Samples were crushed to 90% passing 2mm. A 250g split was
pulverized to 85% passing
75 microns. The samples were first analysed
with an aqua
regia digest and ICP
-
ICP/MS finish to provide a multi
-
element analyses
. For tungsten,
all samples were analysed using a
peroxide fusion digestion and ICP/
AES
finish
. Over
limits tungsten samples wer
e re
-
analysed with pyrosulphate fusion XRF.
All a
ssays received for tungsten (W) are converted to WO
3
by multiplying W by 1.261.
The quality control and quality assurance program remain the same as previous years.
For
every 10 samples submitted
, Happy Cree
k Mineral
inserted either a blank, a
certified reference standard, or a ¼ core duplicate sample in the sequence. In addition,
Agat
and SGS
Laboratory conducts its own quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC)
and reports these with every work order.
The
R
C Zone
model was interpolated with
60
core holes and 10 trenches completed
by Happy Creek from 2010 through to 201
6
, totalling
6,100
metres and containing
2
,
005
assays.
The BN Zone model is supported by 14 drill holes completed by Happy
Creek in
2012 and
2
016 totalling 1,916 meters of drilling and containing 447 assays.
The 3D wireframes developed to control the grade interpolation of the resource model
were based primarily on lithology, and included the construction of a mineralized
wireframe within the ca
lc
-
silicate/skarn lithology to control the extent of the
mineralization to reasonable distance from the drill data.
At the RC Zone the model
was enhance
d
by the addition of the high grade probabilistic model in order to reduce
the dilution of the higher
-
gr
ade material with the adjoining lower
-
grade material. This
methodology assumes a certain degree of selectivity which can be achieved via the
selection of small equipment, mining on 2.5
-
meter flitches and the use of
a
UV lamp.
Happy Creek preferentially s
amples the drill core in either 1 m or 2 m intervals. The
nominal composite length was 2.5
m. The composite intervals were created moving
downward from the collar of the holes toward the hole bottoms. Composites lengths
are automatically adjusted by the
software to leave no remnants at the lithological
boundaries.
For the treatment of outliers
on the RC Zone
, raw assays were capped at
7.0
% and
0.
45
% WO
3
in the CSSK (
calc
-
silicate
) and GRA (granite) domains
respectively,
in
combination with a search restriction applied on composite values greater than 2.
5
%
WO
3
. The procedure used allows the deposit to retain the high
-
grade assays while
limiting their influence during the interpolation to a maximum of 40
m x 30
m x 10
m
(l
ength x width x height).
At
a
0.1% WO
3
cutoff, the capping strategy removed 4.4%
of the metal in the Indicated and Inferred categories.
The BN Zone assays were
capped at 6% WO
3
. A high
-
grade search restriction was not necessary since the
coefficient of va
riation was less than 2.0 indicating the data does not show a high
variability.
Densities were determined from
613
representative rock samples
from the RC Zone
using industry standard methods. For the material within the mineralized zone, a
density of 2.8
5
5 g/cm
3
was applied to the calc
-
silicate lithology, and 2.
707
g/cm
3
applied to the granite lithology.
There was no density measurement for BN Zone
samples. The material was assigned the RC
-
Zone calc
-
silicate lithology density.
A (3D) geological and block m
odel was generated using Geovia Gems software. The
block mo
del matrix size of 5
m x 5
m x 2.5
m (width x length x height) was selected
with consultation with the engineering team from AGP, and was based on the size
deemed suitable for an open pit mining s
cenario
drilling in 5
-
meter bench and mining
in 2.5
-
meter flitches on the RC Zone. The model matrix is also suitable for a room and
pillar operation at the RC and BN Zone.
A
good
variogram was obtained using the 3D data within the
RC Zone
mineralized
enve
lope
. The direction and plunge represented by the variogram coincide with the
known interpreted plunge of the mineralization at the RC Zone. The nugget effect is
moderate, at
55
% of the sill value. At
96
% of the sill, the maximum range is a little
less
than 100
m. The definition of the variogram near the origin was
reasonable
. The
grade model was interpolated using ordinary kriging, and validated using inverse
distance squared and nearest neighbour models.
The BN zone had too few data points
to generat
e a reliable variogram therefore the grade model was interpolated using an
inverse distance squared and
a
nearest neighbour
check
models
.
The interpolation was carried out in multiple passes with increasing search ellipsoid
dimensions.
For both zones, the
c
lassification was based primarily on the pass
number, followed by an adjustment to the class model, based on diamond drilling
density (core area), the distance to the closest sample
. The
krige efficiency
was use
d
as a modifier on the RC Zone
.
No mining
plans have yet been completed for the deposit; however, from the geometry
of the deposit, it seems likely that open pit mining, followed by an underground
operation, may be considered for future extraction
of the RC Zone. The BN Zone will
likely be mined v
i
a
a room and pillar operation with ramp access.
Preliminary metallurgical test work to date is based on several surface bulk samples,
and indicates the scheelite (tungsten mineral) can be recovered using primarily gravity
methods and/or flotation to prod
uce potentially acceptable commercial
grades and
containing no deleterious elements that would
a
ffect its ability to be sold
. Potential by
-
products of zinc indium, bismuth, gold and silver have not been included in the
resource estimate at this stage, but
may be included in a future PEA, after more
detailed metallurgy is performed.
Under CIM definitions, Mineral Resources should have a reasonable prospect of
economic extraction. A tungsten price of US$166.52/MTU of WO
3
in concentrate was
used for the cut
-
o
ff estimation. In order to assess the Mineral Resources an in situ
resource cut
-
off grade of 0.20% WO
3
has been applied for potential open pit resources
and 0.55% WO
3
for potential underground material
To further assess reasonable prospects of economic e
xtraction, a Lerchs
-
Grossman
(LG)
optimized shell was generated to constrain the potential open pit material.
Parameters used to generate this shell included:
50° slopes for the pit shell
CDN$8/t mining, CDN$26/t milling, CDN$10/t G&A operating costs
75.8
% WO
3
recovery to a 68% WO
3
concentrate
US
$
166.52
/MTU WO
3
in concentrate
price
, based on a recently negotiated long term
price by a
n established
t
ungsten producer.
A
s a check, a
calculation using the three
year trailing average APT price arrived at a
similar price.
0.80 US$/CDN$ forex rate
economics applied to Indicated and Inferred materials.
The
LG
shell was
constrained from extending up a steep bank to the west into a high
strip area that would be more readily exploited by underground methods. A CDN$50/t
underground mining cost was applied assuming room
and pillar mining with good
ground conditions and dilu
tion control.
The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources in this estimation are conceptual
in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred
R
esources as an Indicated or Measured
R
esource. It is uncertain if furthe
r exploration
will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured
R
esource category.
Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic
viability.
Rounding of tonnes as required by reporting guidelines may result in a
pparent
differences between tonnes, grade and contained metal content.
Qualified Persons
David Blann, P.Eng., Director
of the Company
, is a Qualified Person as defined by National
Instrument 43
-
101 and is responsible for the overall preparation and approval of the technical
information disclosed in the news release.
Pierre Desautels, P.Geo. Principal Resource Geologist of AGP Mining C
onsultants Inc. Qualified
Person under NI 43
-
101 who is independent of the Company, has prepared and authorized the
release of the mineral resource estimates presented herein. Jay Melnyk, Eng., Principal Mining
Engineer of AGP Mining Consultants Inc. and Q
ualified Person under NI 43
-
101 guidelines has
reviewed the technical content of the News Release in relation to cut
-
off determination and the
resource constraining shell.
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:
Website:
www.happycreekminerals.com
Corporate Communications:
Ron Birch: Phone: 250.
545
.
0383
Toll Free: 1
.
800
.
910
.
7711
Neither the 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.
David Blann, P.Eng.
, Director,
is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43
-
101 and is responsible for
the preparation and approval of
the technical information disclosed in the news release.
This press release contains "forward
-
looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including
statements that address capital costs, recovery, grade, and timing of work or pl
ans at the Company’s mineral projects.
Forward
-
looking information may be, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan",
"planned", "continue", "expect", “thought to”, "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "
intends", "believe",
“opportunity”, “further” and others, or which describes a goal or action, event or result such as "may", "should", "could",
"would", "might" or "will" be undertaken, occur or achieved. Statements also include those that address future
mineral
production, reserve potential, potential size or scale of a mineralized zone, potential expansion of mineralization,
potential type(s) of mining, potential grades as well as to Happy creek’s ability to fund ongoing expenditure, or
assumptions about
future metal or mineral prices, currency exchange rates, metallurgical recoveries and grades,
favourable
operating conditions, access, political stability, obtaining or renewal of existing or required mineral titles,
licenses and permits, labour stability
, market conditions, availability of equipment, accuracy of any mineral resources,
anticipated costs and expenditures. Assumptions may be based on factors and events that are not within the control of
Happy creek and there is no assurance they will prove t
o be correct. Such forward
-
looking information involves known
and unknown risks, which may cause the actual results to materially differ, and/or any future results expressed or
implied by such forward
-
looking information. Additional information on risks an
d uncertainties can be found within
Financial Statements, Prospectus and other materials found on the Company’s SEDAR profile at
www.sedar.com
.
Although Happy creek has attempted to identify important factors that could
cause actual actions, events or results to
differ materially from those described in forward
-
looking information, there can be no assurance that such information
will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from th
ose anticipated in such
statements. Happy creek withholds any obligation to update or revise any forward
-
looking information, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law.