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December 2013
20 December 2013
The frac sand market experienced a turbulent 2013 as environmental concerns continued to hamper new development. This led to several moratoria being put in place across the US, but did not prevent a significant amount of new activity taking place in North America as well as further afield in Europe, the Middle East and China.
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20 December 2013
It has not been a good year for the industrial minerals industry. There have been some shining lights, of course Ñexploration continues at an astonishing rate in some markets despite falling demand and, consequently, prices - but on the whole producers and suppliers have felt the pinch.
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20 December 2013
Many countries in the MENA region are taking steps to diversify their economies away from almost sole reliance on oil and gas production and to pay greater attention to their reserves of metals and minerals. Dr Elizabeth Stephens, JLT Consulting,* looks into the political risk in MENA
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20 December 2013
Oilfield minerals aid the process of extracting natural oil and gas from beneath Earth’s surface. For many years, lubricants such as bentonite and weighting agents like barytes (barite) have been used in conventional drilling while others, such as frac sand and sintered bauxite and kaolin, have seen demand increase as a boom in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) took off in the US and further afield. Ahead of IM’s Oilfield Minerals Outlook: Middle East, Emma Hughes, Deputy Editor, takes a look at some of the key minerals used in this end-market.
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June 2013
03 June 2013
Oilfield services giant Halliburton recently opened its 40m lb new sand storage and distribution plant located at Windsor, Colorado, north of Denver. IM visited the site just prior to its opening.
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03 June 2013
Frac sand, a specific type of silica sand, is a durable, round grain, crush-resistant material produced for use in the hydraulic fracturing process (more widely known as fracking).