The UK minerals industry had looked forward to fracking. It had great hopes for the profits that would come from frac sand; the huge amounts that would be needed to be quarried from greenfield sites across the country. As we posted some years ago in Fracking and sand:
Some companies in the minerals industry will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of fracking in the UK, if the US is anything to go by. Much has been said about the environmental damage of fracking, its impact on groundwater, its impact on the climate; less has been said about the silica sand - frac sand - suspended in the toxic concoction of chemicals pumped underground, needed to prop the fractures open - "a single fracked well can require 10,000 tons of industrial silica sand”. This BGS presentation maps the UK silica sand deposits.
If the UK is to embrace fracking, it must be ready to embrace an increase in silica sand quarrying, and the carcinogenic silica dust that goes with it.
Fortunately, "fracking is over...", if the UK energy minister is to be believed. But it wasn’t a change of heart from government. Economics is destroying the frackers’ dreams, as indicated recently when US shale gas pioneer Chesapeake Energy filed for bankruptcy. Frac sand producers and their investors are also paying the price:
The frac sand producer @HiCrushInc, which owns mines in Augusta, Blair, Whitehall and Wyeville, announced it expects to declare bankruptcy after posting net negative revenues in the first quarter of 2020 and defaulting on loans, reports @RichKremer @WPR https://t.co/Zae4qvmOpW— WisContext (@wiscontext) July 6, 2020
Frac sand heavyweight Covia Holdings, owner of several mines in Minnesota and Wisconsin, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, felled by structural changes in the oil industry and the economic crisis. https://t.co/cMBVnu4nXu— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) July 1, 2020
Texas frac sand firm files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy https://t.co/YcQ3xPSxwE— Neil Ackerman (@acklaw) June 13, 2020
Emerge Energy, which operates frac sand mines in western Wisconsin, has declared bankruptcy and listed more than $338 million in debt. Now, officials in Chippewa and Barron counties are working to ensure company mines will be reclaimed. (Via @WPR) https://t.co/ni98XHAIOR— Wisconsin Watch (@WisconsinWatch) July 19, 2019
The UK’s Mineral Products Association will have read the news too, and – realising the game’s up for frac sand – has had a recent push to highlight the mineral’s other uses:
Silica #sand is used in top dressings and rootzones for improved playability and drainage of pitches, #golf courses and #equestrian surfaces. #MineralProducts #SilicaSand #SportPitches pic.twitter.com/ox28ZslJIw— Mineral Products Association (@MineralProduct) July 14, 2020
