Posted on January 15, 2024
DredgeWire understands that two Rohr-IDRECO electric dredges will be used at the sand mine for this project.
KERMIT, Texas (KOSA) – If you are driving down a County Road out here in West Texas you’re bound to see trucks hauling sand.
But by the end of this year, you’ll still see sand being transported on the roads as well as on a 42-mile conveyor belt.
After five years of design Atlas Energy is changing how to deliver sand in the Permian Basin.
The energy company is introducing the Dunne Express which is a 42-mile conveyor belt that will help move sand across the Permian Basin.
The use of conveyor technology is common in the mining industry, whether for iron or other minerals such as sand.
But the conveyor belt that is being built in Kermit is the first of its kind here in West Texas.
“When you go look at other parts of the world where they’re moving these large amounts of aggregate and long distances conveyors is what you use. It’s never been applied to move frac sand but you know frac sand is aggregate and moving it a long way. So it’s not new but yes this application is new” said John Turner, President and CFO of Atlas Energy
The belt will span 42 miles starting in Kermit and going to New Mexico where it doesn’t follow any current road.
Once the belt is in full operation it will be able to transport 13 million tons of sand a year.
‘Typically sand is moved over public roadways and moved onto the well sites so when we started looking at this technology what we were trying to do is one try to improve the way sand is delivered and second one is to improve the quality of life for the folks who live out there in the Permian Basin where is there a better way to do this so we’re removing trucks from the road which was a goal too” said Turner
Right now Turner says about 50 percent of the traffic on county roads and other one-lane highways is for sand deliveries.
With the conveyor belt, there will be fewer big trucks on the road potentially making them safer to drive on.
“It will reduce the number of trucks on those roads and roughly 50% of the truck traffic out there today is related to the delivery of sand and then what’ll happen is when those deliveries are made it will eliminate those big trucks from the roads and that transportation. So it’ll make the roadways safer” said Turner
The conveyor belt is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
