The Midwestern Sand Mines Feeding the Fracking Industry

Pure, round and super strong: This is the only sand down for a fracking job.

By Geoffrey Giller
Apr 26, 2019 5:00 AMDec 13, 2019 9:37 PM
Sand Mine - Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey
At a mine in northwestern Wisconsin, heavy machinery harvests the white sand used for hydraulic fracturing. (Credit: Michael Parsen/Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey)

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

Descending a few dozen feet into the open pit mine, visitors enter a monochromatic world that looks like a desert planet from Star Wars. On all sides, walls of nearly pure quartz sandstone rise up, the sparkly tan of raw cane sugar, layered with bands of different shades. Loose sand sits in small piles at the base of the cliffs; in the distance, larger piles are being loaded into huge yellow dump trucks that can move 70 tons of the stuff at a time.

But they’re not digging for valuable ores or precious metals buried beneath all this sand. This is a sand mine, and there are dozens like it in western Wisconsin. This state, and others in the Midwest, have some of the best sand in the world.

Sand has been mined here for over a century. It’s used for glass, casting in foundries, even playgrounds and golf course sand traps. But in the last 10 to 15 years, the industry has exploded because this sand has specific characteristics. It’s pure — almost entirely quartz, or silicon dioxide — and the particles are round. This combination makes Wisconsin sand ideal for use in another extractive industry: hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the quest for natural gas and oil.

0 free articles left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

0 free articlesSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

Stay Curious

Sign up for our weekly newsletter and unlock one more article for free.

 

View our Privacy Policy


Want more?
Keep reading for as low as $1.99!


Log In or Register

Already a subscriber?
Find my Subscription

More From Discover
Recommendations From Our Store
Shop Now
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2024 Kalmbach Media Co.