By Patrick C Miller

Houston-based Shale Support—a leading frack sand provider—has purchased two natural sand mines in Louisiana, adding two million tons to the company’s nameplate capacity and bringing total annual production to 5 million tons. "We've been an 'in-basin' provider of sand since 2014," said Jeffrey Bartlam, the company’s president and co-founder. "This expansion allows us to continue our strategy of being the highquality, low-cost proppant supplier to the Haynesville, Austin Chalk, Marcellus/Utica and Eagle Ford shale plays." 

Shale Support anticipates increasing capacity of the two mines to 3 million tons by the first quarter of 2019, which will the give the company 6 million tons of capacity. Shale Support mines Delta Pearl frack sand from its properties in Picayune, Mississippi, for operators and third-party suppliers in the Marcellus/Utica, Permian, Eagle Ford and Haynesville/Tuscaloosa shale plays. 

Kevin Bowen, the company’s co-founder and CEO, noted that it's been difficult for Shale Support to find acquisition opportunities that maintain the clean, single-digit turbidity product quality requirements of the organization. “These two mines produce a clay-free, white sand that will maintain the stringent product standards of our brand, Delta Pearl, and will be a perfect solution for the huge demand increase that we see coming from increased Austin Chalk activity," he explained. 

Shale Support provides logistical services and frack-sand products for enhanced oil and gas recovery. It has more than 180 million tons of frack sand reserves within its mining properties and unit train logistics capabilities from its processing facility located in Picayune, Mississippi.