In-Basin Sand Mines Permian operators are expected to pump 83 billion pounds of fracturing sand this year. That breaks down to 227 million pounds of sand, enough to fill nearly 1,000 railcars, every day. With the number of frac stages per lateral, proppant volumes per stage, and demand for finer-mesh sand all expected to continue growing, the Permian is attracting large new investments from entrepreneurs, oil and gas players themselves, and traditional northern white sand suppliers who are expanding existing in-basin mines and building new ones in the shadows of booming drilling and completion activity. 140 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER