Company says Perry County sand mine will be idled in September

PERRY COUNTY, Mo. -- Operations at a Perry County sand mine and processing plant will be idled in September for an unknown amount of time, a spokeswoman for the company that owns the mine said Friday.

FTS International spokeswoman Pam Percival said in a statement that operations at its Brewer, Mo., plant, near Perryville, Mo., will be idled when part of FTS's operations are sold to Fairmount Minerals, a move that should be finalized in September.

Percival said the mine and processing plant's idling was due to "ongoing litigation with surrounding landowners and the potentially-lengthy permitting process in Missouri for operations of this type." Until the transaction is finalized, "operations at the Brewer plant will be maintained," she said.

Fifty-three people are employed at the location, Percival said.

FTS announced earlier this week the sale of its proppant assets to Fairmount. Proppant is a term for sand or man-made ceramics commonly used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. FTS was founded in 2002 in Texas, and helps oil and natural gas exploration companies recover resources from shale and "other unconventional reservoirs," according to its website.

Pertinent address:

Brewer, MO