Frac Sand Mining Operation In Chippewa County To Shut Down

A frac sand mine and processing center in Chippewa County is shutting down because of poor market conditions.

Preferred Sands announced Thursday that it will temporarily suspend operations at its mine and processing facility near the City of Bloomer. The company declined to comment, but said in a press release that current market conditions forced the shutdown.

Preferred Sands says it intends to continue supplying customers from existing piles of processed sand at the Bloomer facility and will consider restarting the plant based on improvements in the frac sand market.

This is the second announcement of its kind from a frac sand company in Wisconsin. In May, U.S. Silica announced it was laying off 30 employees at its plant in Sparta due to a 30 percent decline in demand for processed frac sand.