Sand

Texas-based Smart Sand Inc. is expanding its sandbox in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale, acquiring a railroad offload terminal and establishing a long-term deal with Canadian Pacific Railroad (CP).

U.S. onshore proppant stalwart Fairmount Santrol has agreed to a cash-and-stock takeover by Connecticut-based Unimin Corp. to create an energy and industrial supplier with an estimated 45 million tons/year of sand and mineral processing capacity.

Shale Support Holdings LLC, which mines sand for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), has partnered with Tidewater Logistics Corp. to gain more access to producers working throughout the Appalachian Basin.

Fracture sand specialist U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. has acquired Mississippi Sand LLC, a Missouri-based sand mining and logistics company, a transaction that adds 1.2 million tons of annual capacity.

Fracture sand king Fairmount Santrol said Monday it has secured a 40-year lease for 3,250 acres of reserves in the Permian Basin near Kermit, TX, with a 165 million ton mining facility that would be able to produce about 3 million tons/year.

North America’s rig count growth has begun to plateau, as producers slow activity “all over the place in North America,” a sign that they are learning from their high-spending days of the past, Halliburton Co. Chairman Dave Lesar said Monday.

A state-of-the-art sand mine and plant in West Texas, envisioned for months to serve the voluminous growth in the Permian Basin, is underway, U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. said Tuesday.

As proppant loads increase and laterals get longer in the Lower 48, Mammoth Energy Services Inc. is growing its sand volumes, announcing Thursday it has secured a multi-year take-or-pay sand contract with a third-party service provider.

Rising proppant demand in the Permian Basin has led Twin Eagle Sand Logistics LLC to launch yet another expansion of its West Texas rail facility near Big Spring.