Select Sands Corp. announced that land clearing is complete and the company has requested U.S.-based contractors to submit bids for test mining and processing at its Sandtown project in Arkansas. Company management will be meeting with various contractors to select the contractors to commence the work right away.
Test mining will include rock fracturing, crushing and screening using a U.S.-based contract mining company which has experience producing similar products sold in oil and gas and industrial markets.
The company is in advanced negotiations with various processing plant operators, in the area, to produce finished products (finer-mesh, high-purity “Ottawa White” sand of 40/70 and 100 meshes). The processing plants will be used on a rental and/or lease basis with little to no capital expenditure required. Test mining and third-party plants (on rental and/or lease basis) will lead to production start as early as the Q4 2015.
The company is also preparing to drill test the remaining 60 percent of the property. As per recently completed report by Tetra Tech of Golden, Colo., and Vancouver, B.C., Canada, 40 percent of the Sandtown property contains 22 million tons of Indicated resources of silica sand with a pre-tax NPV valued at $160 million. Road building on the 60 percent of the property has begun and drilling commencement will be announced soon.
“The Arkansas advantage of mining-business-friendly jurisdiction, proximity to major markets, and year-‘round operation makes Sandtown a potential low-cost producer,” commented Select Sands CEO Rasool Mohammad. “We look forward to drill testing the balance of Sandtown to further enhance the valuations of this asset.”