January 22, 2009 -- Vancouver, British Columbia -- Happy Creek Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: HPY, the "Company") is pleased to announce it has completed the 2008 exploration on its Hawk and Grey properties, located approximately forty kilometres northeast of 100 Mile House, in central British Columbia, Canada.

The Hawk property is an alkaline porphyry copper-gold-silver system within the Quesnel Trough geology that hosts the Mount Polley mine to the northwest and Afton mine to the southeast. During 2008, the Company expanded the 3D Induced Polarization (3D IP) geophysical survey performed in 2007, and conducted geology, geochemistry, and a magnetic geophysical survey. The 2008 3D IP survey has expanded to the south the positive anomaly first identified in 2007.

Historical drilling on the property was focused on the west and northwest side of the property with results including three metres grading 0.79 percent copper, 1.73 g/t (grams per tonne) gold and 9.43g/t silver in hole 82-4, and 1.83 metres containing 0.93 percent copper, 3.1 g/t gold and 12.34 g/t silver in hole 82-5. Surface rock samples have returned up to 4.5% copper, 18.0 g/t gold and 105.7 g/t silver in boulders, and 5.0 metres containing 0.88% copper and 1.07 g/t gold in outcrop. These and numerous other localized and relatively high grade copper-gold-silver showings occur over a 3.5 kilometre by 1.5 kilometre area and are in part hosted within quartz veins and propylitic to calc silicate (skarn) altered volcanic-sedimentary rocks of the Nicola Group. The Company feels these showings may be the result of an underlying bulk tonnage copper-gold system nearby.

The expanded 3D IP geophysical survey has identified a positive anomaly starting from surface on the east side of the grid that dips gently west for over one kilometre. Overall, this target area is approximately 1.7 kilometres by 800 metres in dimension that remains open to the south. The surface expression of the anomaly on the eastern side contains local outcrops of volcanic and porphyritic intrusive rocks that are propylitic to potassic altered, and contain dominantly pyrite (iron sulphide) and iron oxide minerals, with localized anomalies of copper and gold in rock and glacial till (soil). The geology, alteration and mineralization are thought to reflect the periphery of a porphyry copper-gold system. Importantly, the core of the central and western portion of the 3D IP anomaly occurs below surface, and cannot be directly observed. A plan and sections of the 3D IP survey along with some new photos are posted to our website.

The Company is pleased to have identified a new bulk tonnage copper-gold target having considerable dimensions that is fully permitted for trenching and drilling.

David Blann, P.Eng. 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.
 
On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"David E Blann"
____________________

David E Blann, P.Eng.
President