Hectatone’s first shipment of organoclay for oilfield drilling Hectatone Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Western Lithium USA Corp., has produced an organoclay, branded Hectatone™, from its processing plant near Fernley, Nevada, using lithium-rich hectorite from the Kings Valley deposit. The world’s second source of the special clay mineral hectorite came on-stream at the end of [...]
Rio Tinto Minerals (RTM), which claims to supply almost 50% of the world’s refined borates, has reported that its 2014 borates production was up 3% over 2013 to 508,000 tonnes B2O3 content. RTM’s Boron huge open pit mine yields more than 80 different minerals including tincal, kernite, ulexite and colemanite. [...]
Oil price crisis, what crisis? Despite apparent gloom for the outlook of drilling activity and its impact on oilfield mineral demand, M-I SWACO appears to be pressing ahead with plans to open a new barytes mine in the UK. The proposed Duntanlich mine site, near Aberfeldy, located below the Farragon Ridge. The new 120,000 [...]
Constructing the new barytes grinding plant, designed by The Mouat Co. Inc., at Halliburton’s Dunphy, Nevada facility, in 2014. The completed processing plant is the largest barytes plant in the world, and which now complements the barytes facilities of Baker Hughes as the two companies plan to merge later this year. Courtesy The Mouat [...]
Ecopropp’s sintering kiln undergoing inspection in December 2014. A ceramic proppant pilot plant, using fly ash as feedstock raw material, is planned to be commissioned in early 2015. Courtesy Ecopropp Pty Ltd. A pilot plant to be operated by Ecopropp Pty Ltd in Australia for producing ceramic proppants manufactured from fly ash is [...]
Ceramic proppant producer Oxane Materials Inc. is to close its Van Buren, Arkansas plant on 23 January 2015. News of the closure was delivered on 24 November in a letter to Van Buren Mayor Bob Freeman from Chris Coker, president of Oxane Materials; a shocked Freeman was reported as saying “The news was completely unexpected”. [...]
Laying concrete foundations for Baltic Ceramics' new 60,000 tpa ceramic proppants plant at Lubsko, near Zielona Gora, western Poland, expected on stream by the second half of 2015. Feedstock for the new plant will come from Baltic Ceramics’ own high alumina kaolin close to the plant, as well as possibly using bauxite from Greece, [...]
The frac pad at San Leon Energy’s Lewino-1G2 well in Poland's northern Baltic Basin. Described as “the best single frac in a vertical well in European shale”, the operation used 30/50 mesh ceramic proppants. Engineering for a horizontal multi-fracking operation is continuing. Courtesy San Leon Energy Plc. Further withdrawals by overseas oil and [...]
Richards Bay Minerals, South Africa. Copyright © 2014 Rio Tinto. Glencore acquiring Rio Tinto would have established a world mining supergroup. For the time being it now looks as if the deal is off, with both parties now assessing options as the mineral community ponders such grand scale mergers. With Glencore’s established might [...]
