The manufacture of tiny ceramic beads as small as a grain of sand could become the next opportunity for western North Dakota.This reminds me of a story.
Millions of pounds of the beads, worth billions of dollars, are being imported into the oil zone, where they're injected along with water and chemicals to prop open the minuscule fissures made by fracture-treating deep Bakken wells to make the oil flow.
North Dakota has generous clay deposits, and State Geologist Ed Murphy said his office is analyzing samples from two separate formations to determine if the clay-based ceramic proppant could be made here. Right now, it's imported from other states and countries, including Brazil and China.
Two men meet a cheetah in the jungle (bear in woods). One gets out his running shoes and starts putting them on. The other says, you can't outrun the cheetah (bear). The runner replies: I don't have. I just need to outrun you.
Likewise, Hebron ceramics don't have to be better than Chinese/Russian ceramics (although they probably will be, knowing the folks who will manufacture them). Hebron ceramics just have to be better than sand. Apparently silica crushes at those great depths, and gums up the works. Ceramics can withstand the pressure and last longer. Hebron ceramics just have to be better than sand, and they will beat foreign ceramics on price (transportation advantage).
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