Happy Creek Disappoints

Penny junior Happy Creek Minerals (HPY-V) saw its share price fall off a table recently, after releasing drill results from its Rateria copper property in southern B.C.

Despite describing mineralization on the property as a “new porphyry copper system,” the company couldn’t rally any market enthusiasm.

In Toronto on the news, the company’s shares were off 50% or 50 on heavy trading.

Of the 14 holes drilled, only four intersected mineralization of note. Assays from those holes included: 10 metres (from 35 metres depth) grading 0.163% copper; 84 metres (from 10 metres) grading 0.136% copper; 21.8 metres (from 38.3 metres) grading 0.13% copper; and 156 metres (from 12 metres) grading 0.104% copper.

The 14 holes were sunk in portions of an induced-polarization (IP) anomaly that extends roughly 1.6 km in length and 600 metres in width. The four mineralized holes come from the east-central portion of the anomaly.

Happy Creek says results from another 10 holes on the western and eastern side of the anomaly were low and erratic with 1- to 3-metre intervals containing trace to 0.18% copper.

Drill core is being described as medium- to coarse-grained quartz diorite to granodiorite in composition.

The company says drill core is variably fractured, sheared and propylitic, with phyllic and argillic alteration. Bornite, chalcocite and digenite and chalcopyrite copper sulphide minerals occur dominantly in phyllic and argillic alteration along fractures or with quartz veins.

While the results were less than spectacular, Happy Creek will continue with its drill program, as large areas of the anomaly remain untested.

With over $4 million in cash, the company says it still expects to complete its earn-in for a 100% interest in the property by November 2007 — finding cause to be optimistic in the new mineralized showings that were discovered near the Teck Cominco (TCK.B-T, TCK-N) and Happy Creek property boundary.

Rateria sits 10 km southeast of Teck Cominco’s Highland Valley mine concentrator.