- Rangeland Energy announced that the largest frac sand unit train shipped to date in North America has arrived at the company’s RIO Hub located near Loving, N.M. The record 150-car unit train carried 16,500 tons (33 million lb.) of frac sand and was powered by five diesel locomotive engines. The unit train originated in Ottawa, Ill., and was operated by BNSF Railway Co. The unit train arrived on Oct. 2 and was unloaded within 22 hours. The sand was stored at the RIO Hub and will supply an operator with a large quantity of sand for high-volume hydraulic fracture jobs in the Delaware Basin. Demand for sand in the Delaware Basin remains high, and unit train service provides a more cost-effective and reliable means of shipping large volumes of sand than manifest service, according to the company.
- Select Sands Corp. announced that Missouri-based Explosive Contractors Inc. has extracted the first test silica sand sample in the starter pit at the company’s Sandtown project in Arkansas. About 2,000 tons out of the 5,600 tons of silica sand extracted is to be processed and delivered to potential customers for hydraulic fracturing and other industrial markets.
- U.S. Silica Co. – which earlier this year cut 30 jobs – will lay off an additional 16 workers at its Sparta, Wis., processing plant, and Hi Crush Services plans to idle 27 workers at its plant in Augusta, Wis., according to notices posted by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.