Quartz Silica

Mining, processing and delivering over 30 million metric tonnes (MT) of frac sand proppant to US oil and gas shale drilling sites is a serious business. Speedier drilling, increased lateral length and more fraccing stages are driving demand for the critical proppant that holds open fractures to let hydrocarbons flow to the well. Large companies with efficient distribution logistics and agreements with the railroads dominate the business – helping to bring down completion costs per well. Today we take a closer look at the frac sand business.