Localizing Last Mile With Mini-Mines & Wet Sand

Wet Sand Operations Directly Affects and Improves Last Mile Efficiency

–Proppant usage in hydraulic fracturing operations has changed significantly since the advent of shale plays. In the past 10 years, average proppant demand per well has increased from 1.3 million to 15.1 million pounds, representing an increase of 1,061%. This acceleration of demand has spurred innovation toward lower cost, increased surety of supply and improved well performance.

Localizing last mile with mini-mines & wet sand operations directly affects and improves last mile efficiency. In this case study, we found:

1. Decrease in total mileage driven by 92%
2. Total truck requirement is reduced by 79%
3. Deliveries/driver/day increased by 300%.
4. Total boxes needed for the job decreased by 48%
5. CO2e from sand drying & last mile trucking combined decreased by 95%.

Figure 1: Mini mine with wet sand from 7 miles away (left) & regional mine with dry sand from 70 miles away (right)