Vulnerable lizards could hamper Texas frac sand boom

• Autores: William Clarke
• Localización: Industrial Minerals, ISSN 0019-8544, Nº. 595, 2017 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Julio-Agosto)
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Texas miners worried as growing sand interest threatens endangered lizard.

    A small lizard threatens to be a large headache in the rush for Permian Basin frac sand development, US miner Smart Sand warned.

    Speaking to investors in August, Smart Sand CEO Charles Young warned that mine development in Texas would be hampered by a number of issues, in particular the need to preserve the habitat of one contentious reptile - the dunes sagebrush lizard - whose presence in the region nearly derailed the Permian fracking boom altogether back in 2011.

    "We believe Texas mine opportunities won't come without its obstacles, including the following, access to wire, roads, electricity, trucking and labour and potential serious environmental issues and questions relating to the sagebrush lizard and its habitat," Young said.

    "This is why we feel the capacity announcements and resulting investor sentiment has been overdone.

    "We don't believe it's possible for all those capacity to come online at the levels nor in the timeframe currently being anticipated by the market," he said.

    "Our estimate is at 15m to 20m short tons will come online over the next 12 to 18 months. That would not meet the demand in the Permian basin as currently foreseen." Texas drilling boom spurs interest in regional sand