Kaolin-Rich Clay in Dunn County, Stark County -- October 14, 2012

Updates

October 23, 2012: updates on same story; link to Bismarck Tribune. 

Murphy said ideally, the alumina in the clay — a property that yields a light weight and strength to the ceramic product — is in the mid-30s percentile. Instead, the samplings are finding alumina is closer to 20 percent, but Murphy said chemical additives can make up the difference.

Some clay deposits in the two counties have higher alumina content than others and a map will help companies explore and decide, he said.

“These results are lower than our preliminary results, but we still have a number of sites that (alumina) averages in the mid-20 percent. That’s certainly encouraging enough, based on conversations with the industry,” Murphy said.

Original Post

Link here to The Dickinson Press.

Could a certain type of clay prominent in western North Dakota make the hydraulic fracturing process easier for energy companies while simultaneously providing even more of an economic boost to the Oil Patch? 

The foremost geologist in the state thinks both scenarios could become reality. “We’ve estimated that there are 1.7 billion tons of economically mineable kaolin in western North Dakota,” said state geologist Edward Murphy.

“This is something that could potentially be a boon for energy companies and for the state of North Dakota.”

1.7 billion tons x 2,000 lbs/ton --> huge number
huge number / 5 million lbs ceramic per well --> enough clay for 680,000 wells
unknown: how much ceramic does each ton of raw kaolin/clay yield?

By the way, this is the lead story at the on-line Dickinson Press.