In The News

4/4/2019
Shifting Sands: Market Disruptions Deliver Savings in Permain
In pursuit of the lowest cost and most efficient option, there’s been a shift away from Northern White Sand from mines in northern states to regional, or in-basin, sand from mines closer to home.
Read more…

3/5/19
Water Conservation for Fracking
American ingenuity has solved the complex problems of extracting hydrocarbons from shale. The conservation of water in arid regions such as the Permian Basin is just one more challenge that is being met by the industry. Read more… 

2/28/19
Fort Worth Inc. Entrepreneur of Excellence Finalist
Black Mountain Sand’s Rhett Bennett has been named a finalist for Entrepreneur of Excellence in Energy for Fort Worth Inc. Magazine. Join us as we proudly celebrate the entrepreneurial landscape in Fort Worth and applaud the accomplishments of these outstanding finalists. Read more… 

1/29/19
Liquid Treatment Market for Shale Fracturing Sand is Growing Rapidly
The West Texas Permian Basin is relatively arid. Freshwater supplies are limited. The new fracking sand mining plants in the basin add to the large water demand already caused by the fracking process. With multiple potential solutions, fresh water will remain the main source for the foreseeable future. As a result, conservation becomes a high priority. Fracking sand plant suppliers have risen to this challenge by designing systems which reuse as much as 98 percent of the process water needed. Read more… 

1/01/19
Sands of Time: The Care and Grooming of a Frac Sand Mine
Reminiscent of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush, the 2018 Permian Basin sand rush saw excited investors descend on the Basin, opening approximately 19 new sources of this granular gold. Black Mountain Sand opened three of those 19: Vest, El Dorado, and Sealy Smith. Read more… 

12/03/18
Sand, Water, Logistics Shift into High Gear
Other than water, there is very little in the world more boring than sand. Yet, both have captured the attention of the oil and gas industry for their role as crucial ingredients in the drilling and completion of a shale well. Read more… 

10/09/18
Local fracking sand will support growing proppant demand in the Permian basin
The main driver behind the demand growth for sand is the increasing number of wells with longer laterals and more sophisticated completion design. Read more… 

09/27/18
Frac Sand Market Faces Supply Chain Disruption
CEO Rhett Bennett talks to Rigzone about supply chain disruptions caused by in-basin frac sand. Read more… 

09/12/18
Meet the Shalennials: CEOs Under 40 Making Millions in Texas Oil
After observing his family’s coal business as a child, Kentucky-born Rhett Bennett, 37, didn’t want to get into mining after graduating from the University of Georgia in 2004. So he jumped into the energy industry and, after a few twists and turns, wound up right back in the mining business…frack sand mining. Read more… 

09/12/18
Finalists Announced: D CEO’s 2018 Oil and Gas Awards
Black Mountain Sand’s Rhett Bennett has been named a finalist for Services CEO of the Year for D CEO’s 2018 Oil & Gas Awards. Read more… 

07/16/18
Worthless Just Two Years Ago, West Texas Sand Now Brings in Billions
Backed by a private-equity firm named Natural Gas Partners, Black Mountain is the biggest outfit in the area. It runs two mines nestled up against a desolate strip of highway that stretches into unincorporated parts of Texas along the border with New Mexico. They’re called Vest and El Dorado. Both are just months old. And already cranking out sand at a pace equal to 5 million tons a year. Read more…

07/11/18
Permian Basin’s new hot commodity was dirt cheap. This year, drillers paid $2 billion for it
Newly constructed West Texas mines will ship some 22 million tons of sand this year to shale drillers all around them in the Permian Basin, the hottest oil patch on Earth. It is a staggering sum of sand, equal to almost a quarter of total U.S. supply. And within a couple of years, industry experts say the figure could climb to over 50 million tons. Read more…

05/23/18
Tracking Sand: Miners Talk Permian Proppant
In late May, a trio of frac sand mining operators took the stage at Hart Energy’s DUG Permian Basin conference and exhibition in Fort Worth, Texas to talk about the emerging use of in-basin sand from West Texas sand dune deposits for hydraulic fracturing in the world’s most active shale play. They also discussed how they are working to meet the oil industry’s needs while addressing challenges. Read more…

05/23/18
Black Mountain Sand Announces Third Texas Mine in Eagle Ford; Seeks to Increase Annual Output Capacity of Permian Basin Mines to Meet Growing Demand for In-Basin Frac Sand. New mine projected to deliver 2.2 million annual tons, already fully contracted for use. Read full release…

05/11/18
In West Texas, Fracking Companies Face a Tough Challenger – the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Black Mountain Sand’s chief commercial officer, Hayden Gillespie, recently sat down with Texas Standard’s Natalie Krebs to discuss one of West Texas’ biggest challenges, the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard (DSL). Read More…

04/23/18
The New Face Of Frac Sand? Permian Startups Take The House Floor In Austin. Hayden Gillespie, Chief Commercial Officer of Black Mountain Sand, testifies in front of the Texas House Of Representatives Energy Committee. Read More…(subscription required)

01/1/18
Sand Nation. In a sweeping and disruptive move that in some ways pre-empts the huge sand suppliers of Wisconsin and other points north, the Basin storms into the sand mining business, bringing home what could be the lion’s share of this vital and ever-growing segment within the well completion industry. Read More…

November 2017
Sizing Up the Service Sector. Rebounding from the depths that, just two years ago, were “unsustainable,” the services sector in the Permian Basin has clawed its way to viability. Read More…