U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc., a leading producer of commercial silica used in the oil and gas industry and a wide range of industrial applications, plans to build a second, $150 million state-of-the-art frac sand mine and plant in West Texas’ Permian Basin, about 60 miles north of Midland, near Lamesa, Texas.

According to company officials, construction of the mine and plant will begin immediately, and initial production is expected in March of 2018. The 3,500-acre site has over 30 years of reserves of fine grade 40/70 and 100 mesh.

Besides having high quality reserves, the site has ample water supply, good transportation infrastructure and is located outside of the area in West Texas that has been identified as providing potential habitat for the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard.

"Mine location and logistics capabilities are key competitive advantages to fully serve our customers in the Permian,'' said Bryan Shinn, President & CEO. "I believe that our new site in Lamesa, together with our Crane County facility, gives us the best West Texas mine footprint. We expect to be closer than competitors to almost half of the horizontal rigs operating today in the Permian and that should translate into better service and lower overall cost for customers."

"Being able to deliver a total mine to blender sand solution by utilizing our Sandbox system further extends our industry leading position," Shinn added.

With the addition of 2.6 million tons of capacity at Lamesa, the Company's total capital expansion program is now expected to deliver nearly 9.5 million tons of incremental annual supply, including 4 million tons at Crane County, and 2.8 million tons at our Tyler, Kosse and Pacific sites collectively.