U S Silica Holdings Inc's Business Segments

We are one of the largest domestic producers of commercial silica, a specialized mineral that is a critical input into a variety of attractive end markets. During our 116 year history, we have developed core competencies in mining, processing, logistics and materials science that enable us to produce and cost-effectively deliver over 240 products to customers across these markets. After our acquisition of New Birmingham, Inc. ("NBI" or the "NBI Acquisition") on August 16, 2016, as of December 31, 2016, we operate 18 production facilities across the United States. Including the purchase of reserves adjacent to our Ottawa, Illinois, facility in May 2016, we now control 467 million tons of reserves of commercial silica, which can be processed to make 226 million tons of finished products that meet American Petroleum Institute ("API") frac sand specifications. Additionally, on August 22, 2016, we completed the acquisition of Sandbox Enterprises, LLC ("Sandbox" or the “Sandbox Acquisition”) as a “last mile” logistics solution for frac sand in the oil and gas industry. For more information regarding the NBI and Sandbox Acquisitions

 

In order to serve a broad range of end markets, we produce and sell a variety of commercial silica products, including whole grain and ground products, as well as other industrial mineral products that we believe complement our commercial silica products.

Whole Grain Silica Products—We sell whole grain commercial silica products in a range of shapes, sizes and purity levels. We sell whole grain silica that has a round shape and high crush strength to be used as frac sand in connection with oil and natural gas recovery, and we have the capability to produce resin coated sand. During 2015, we announced the introduction of InnoProp® Python RCS, a new high-performance resin coated proppant designed to increase the production of oil and gas wells in an economical and efficient manner. In early 2016, we introduced another new resin coated product, InnoProp® PLT, which is a curable low-temperature product and can be used without an activator in oil and gas wells that have bottom-hole static temperatures down to 70°F.

We also sell whole grain silica products in a range of size distributions, grain shapes and chemical purity levels to our customers involved in the manufacturing of glass products, including a low-iron whole grain product sold to manufacturers of architectural and solar glass applications. In addition, we sell several grades of whole grain round silica to the foundry industry and provide whole grain commercial silica to the building products industry.

Ground Silica Products—Our ground commercial silica products are inherently inert, white and bright, with high purity. We market our ground silica in sizes ranging from 40 to 250 microns for use in plastics, rubber, polishes, cleansers, paints, glazes, textile fiberglass and precision castings. We also produce and market fine ground silica in sizes ranging from 5 to 40 microns for use in premium paints, specialty coatings, sealants, silicone rubber and epoxies.

Industrial Mineral Products—We also produce and sell certain other industrial mineral products, such as aplite and magnesium silicate. Aplite is a mineral used to produce container glass and insulation fiberglass and is a source of alumina that has a low melting point and a low tendency to form defects in glass.