After months of negotiation and public input, the Town of Fairchild Board of Trustees signed a developers agreement with US Silica. This agreement allows the company, which is one of the largest domestic producers of commercial silica, to begin construction on a new, three million ton-per-year frac sand mine and plant. This facility is expected to become operational by 2015, where it will be served by Union Pacific Railroad and deliver high quality frac sand to the oil and gas market.

“We had tremendous input from the community in helping develop a project that will meet the high environmental and compliance standards we set for ourselves as a company,” Bryan Shinn, president and chief executive officer of US Silica stated, “This is an important step in our plan to bring on additional new capacity to meet customers’ rapidly growing needs for high quality, Northern White frac sand in all of the major shale basins in the U.S.”