Part two of the sand saga
By Daniel Arens
Throughout the nation and the world, there have been various rushes, from gold rushes in California to diamond rushes in South Africa.
Now, it looks like Mercer County may potentially face its own kind of rush. But the precious mineral everyone’s so eager to mine here? Sand.
Or, rather, proppant sand. This kind of sand, which can be found in a couple locations throughout eastern Mercer County, has the right properties to be used for enhanced oil recovery in the Bakken fields to the northwest.
In October, the presence of this sand in Mercer County first exploded onto the scene and onto the top priority list of county leaders when Asgard Resources LLC requested a permit to mine at one of these sites, southwest of the Crossroads (the juncture of Highway 200 and Alternate Highway 200 between Hazen and Stanton).
