This Week’s Market Buzz

  • The Chippewa County, Wis., board gave a nod of approval for a frac sand processing plant and rail facility, according to WQOW TV. The board unanimously approved re-zoning a piece of land in the Town of Bloomer to be used as a dry plant for White Haven Sands. The plant will be located on a nearly 100-acre parcel of land located between Highway 53 and County Road SS.

  • A zone change that would allow for a sand transloading facility just north of San Angelo, Texas, was approved by the planning commission. The zone change from “ranch and estate” to “heavy manufacturing” comes after the 175-acre property, at Old Ballinger Highway and U.S. Highway 277, was annexed into the city during the Feb. 17 city council meeting, according to the Standard-Times.
  • Potential frac sand miners in Houston County, Minn., are now free to pursue projects under the county’s existing mining rules, according to the Winona Post. A proposal to ban frac sand mining in Houston County failed in a contentious 2-3 vote, and a proposed update to the county’s zoning rules for sand mining also failed. After weeks of debate, the county did not change anything about how it regulates frac sand mining. Houston County has more than 100 mines, according to county officials, most of which have been inactive for years. However, these mines are all “grandfathered in” and not subject to recent zoning rules. They could be reopened as frac sand mines and they would not be subject to many of the regulations the county has enacted.

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