AGGREGATES MANAGER October 2015
12
by Holly Bellmund
Interested in
the high-value
proppant market?
Learn more about
the U.S. frac sand
market with this
primer.
F
rac sand is a type of proppant, a ma-
terial consisting of uniform, specialized
grains used in hydraulic fracturing.
Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" is
a technique where fluids and proppants are
forced under pressure down a hole to stimulate,
or crack open, the source rock to release oil and
gas. Proppant props open the cracks, allowing
oil and gas to be released during pumping.
Fracking has been a widely adopted commercial
practice in the United States since the 1980s,
with explosive growth beginning in 2010, when
horizontal drilling technology was combined
with hydraulic fracturing to produce oil and gas
from the U.S. shale plays.
The rise in hydraulic fracturing has driven
demand for frac sand up from 41 million tons in
2013 to about 54 million tons in 2014. The top
five producers in the United States are Unimin,
U.S. Silica, Fairmount Santrol, Hi-Crush Prop-
pants, and Preferred Sands.
Frac sand and proppant
Frac sand is a natural proppant; proppant can
be manufactured from clays or polymers. Frac
sand and manufactured proppants can be coated
Frac Sand 101
Photo by Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com
