Potential Proppant Manufacturing in The Heart of the Bakken

Great story in The Dickinson Press.

The North Dakota Geological Survey in Bismarck has completed collecting kaolinite samples from 10 counties in the west, including Stark, Dunn and Morton counties, according to its news publication.

“We looked at the ceramic proppant that was being used in the Williston Basin and saw it was coming in from out of state,” state geologist Ed Murphy said, adding most of it comes from out of the country, including China and Russia.

Proppant is used to keep fractures open in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” Kaolinite sometimes has high aluminum properties, which is one of the main ingredients for proppant, Murphy said.

Kaolinite can be dazzling white, gold, purple or gray in color and can range from claystone to sandstone. Deposits are usually 10 feet to 40 feet thick and can be seen in hillsides.

Have you ever notices how mainstream media will reference a source without giving enough details to easily find it, or in the 21st century, providing the URL? It's possible they did and I missed it.