- CD Corp., Winona, Minn., is seeking city permission to add up to 60 extra barges of frac sand per year at its shipping facility at the city’s commercial harbor, and also plans to eventually ask to be allowed to ship dry sand that doesn’t have 2.5 percent moisture, according to the Winona Daily News. CD Corp. owner Dan Nisbit said the company is hoping to create some leeway on monthly limits to keep up with demand during busier shipping months. The company can ship up to 48 barges a month, but on some months like March they weren’t able to ship any due to weather. That put them behind schedule, and with the limits they’ve been unable to catch up.
- Hi-Crush Partners announced a five-year supply agreement with C&J Spec-Rent Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of C&J Energy Services Inc., or C&J Energy Services, an independent provider of premium hydraulic fracturing, coiled tubing, wireline, pressure pumping and other complementary oilfield services. The supply agreement requires C&J Energy Services to pay a specified price for a specified minimum volume of frac sand each month. “Hi-Crush is pleased to add another top-tier customer to our growing suite of long-term supply agreements, through which we process, ship, store and distribute high-quality Northern White frac sand across all major U.S. shale plays,” said James M. Whipkey, co-chief executive officer of Hi-Crush. “We look forward to many years of growth alongside C&J.”
- Houston County, Minn., commissioners approved a conditional use permit (CUP) renewal, according to the Spring Grove Herald. Houston County land use attorney Jay Squires advised the board to grant the application, stating that even though the CUP ran out while the Tracie Erickson sand mine was embroiled in legal challenges, the application was “held in abeyance” while the waters cleared. The mine became entangled in lawsuits after Erickson signed an agreement with Minnesota Sands to greatly expand the operation and convert it to frac sand production in spite of a county-wide moratorium on new frac sand mines. Minnesota Sands has since dropped its effort to mine frac sand at the site and cancelled the agreement.