SLCA Company Profile

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

We attribute our success to the following strengths:

Large-scale producer with a diverse and high-quality reserve base. Our 18 geographically dispersed production facilities control 467 million tons of reserves, including API size frac sand and large quantities of silica with distinct characteristics, giving us the ability to sell over 240 products to customers in both our Oil & Gas Proppants segment and Industrial & Specialty Products segment. Our large-scale production, logistics capabilities and long reserve life make us a preferred commercial silica supplier to our customers. Our consistent, reliable supply of large quantities of silica gives our customers the security to customize their production processes around our commercial silica. Furthermore, our large scale provides us earnings diversification and a larger addressable market.

Geographically advantaged footprint with intrinsic transportation advantages. The strategic location of our facilities and our logistics capabilities enable us to enjoy high customer retention and a larger addressable market. In 2016, we acquired NBI, the ultimate parent company of NBR Sand, LLC, a regional sand producer located near Tyler, Texas. This facility allows customers to ship regional sand directly to the wellheads in the Texas and Louisiana basins by truck, which provides us with a delivered cost advantage. In our Oil & Gas Proppants segment, our network of frac sand production facilities with access to Class I rail either onsite or by truck and the strategic locations of our transloads serve to create an addressable market that includes every major U.S. shale basin. We believe we are one of the few frac sand producers capable of cost-effectively delivering API grade frac sand to most of the major U.S. shale basins by on-site rail. Additionally, on August 22, 2016, we completed the acquisition of Sandbox, a provider of logistics solutions and technology for the transportation of proppant used in hydraulic fracturing in the oil and gas industry. Sandbox provides “last mile” logistics to oil and gas companies. Sandbox has operations in Midland/Odessa, Texas, Morgantown, West Virginia, western North Dakota, northeast of Denver, Colorado, Oklahoma City, OK and Cambridge, Ohio, where its major customers are located, which allowed us to expand our frac sand offering directly to customers wellhead locations.

Additionally, due to the high weight-to-value ratio of many silica products in our Industrial & Specialty Products segment, the proximity of our facilities to our customers’ facilities often results in us being their sole supplier. This advantage has enabled us to enjoy strong customer retention in this segment, with our top five Industrial & Specialty Products segment customers purchasing from us for an average of over 50 years.

Low-cost operating structure. We focus on building and operating facilities with low delivered cost that will allow us to be successful through the cycle. We believe the combination of the following factors contributes to our low-cost structure and our high margins:

our ownership of the vast majority of our reserves, resulting in mineral royalty expense that was less than 0.3% of our sales in 2016;

the close proximity of our mines to their respective processing plants, which allows for a cost-efficient and highly automated production process;

our processing expertise, which enables us to create over 240 products with unique characteristics while minimizing waste;

our integrated logistics management expertise and geographically advantaged facility network, which enables us to reliably ship products by the most cost-effective method available, whether by truck, rail or barge, to meet the needs of our customers, whether at in-basin transload locations or directly at wellhead locations via our Sandbox operations;

our large customer base across numerous end markets, which allows us to maximize our mining recovery rate and asset utilization; and

our large overall and plant-level operating scale.

Strong reputation with our customers and the communities in which we operate. We believe that we have built a strong reputation during our 116 year operating history. Our customers know us for our dependability and our high-quality, innovative products, as we have a long track record of timely delivery of our products according to customer specifications. We also have an extensive network of technical resources, including materials science and petroleum engineering expertise, which enables us to collaborate with our customers to develop new products and improve the performance of their existing applications. We are also well known in the communities in which we operate as a preferred employer and a responsible corporate citizen, which generally serves us well in hiring new employees and securing difficult to obtain permits for expansions and new facilities.

Experienced management team. The members of our senior management team bring significant experience to the dynamic environment in which we operate. Their expertise covers a range of disciplines, including industry-specific operating and technical knowledge as well as experience managing high-growth businesses. We believe we have assembled a flexible, creative and responsive team that can quickly adapt to the rapidly evolving unconventional oil and natural gas drilling landscape.

Expand our Oil & Gas Proppants production capacity and product portfolio. We continue to consider and execute several initiatives to increase our frac sand production capacity and augment our proppant product portfolio.

While we continue to work on maximizing existing production facility efficiencies, due to the recent improvements in the oil and gas market, we are also evaluating production capacity expansion opportunities at existing facilities as well as Greenfield opportunities.

In order to increase our resin coated product portfolio, 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.

Increase our presence and product offering in industrial and specialty products end markets. Our research and business development teams work in tandem with our customers to develop new products, which we expect will either increase our presence and market share in certain industrial and specialty products end markets or allow us to enter new markets. We manage a robust pipeline of new products in various stages of development. Some of these products have already come to market, resulting in a positive impact on our financial results. We continue to work toward offering more value-driven industrial and specialty products that will enhance the profitability of the business.

Optimize product mix and further develop value-added capabilities to maximize margins. We continue to actively manage our product mix at each of our plants to ensure we maximize our profit margins. This requires us to use our proprietary expertise in balancing key variables, such as mine geology, processing capacities, transportation availability, customer requirements and pricing. We expect to continue investing in ways to increase the value we provide to our customers by expanding our product offerings, improving our supply chain management, upgrading our information technology, and creating a world class customer service model.

Expand our supply chain network and leverage our logistics capabilities to meet our customers’ needs in each strategic oil and gas basin. We continue to expand our logistics network to ensure product is available to meet the in-basin needs of our customers. This approach allows us to provide strong customer service and puts us in a position to take advantage of opportunistic spot market sales. Our plant sites are strategically located to provide access to key Class I railroads, which enables us to cost effectively send product to each of the strategic basins in North America. We can ship product by truck, barge and rail with an ability to connect to short-line railroads as necessary to meet our customers’ evolving in-basin product needs. We believe that our supply chain network and logistics capabilities are a competitive advantage that enables us to provide superior service for our customers. We expect to continue to make strategic investments and develop partnerships with transload operators and transportation providers that will enhance our portfolio of supply chain services that we can provide to customers.