CP, U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. enter multi-year agreement for frac sand transport

Canadian Pacific and U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc., have entered into a multi-year agreement for the movement of frac sand from U.S. Silica's newest mining and processing facility in Sparta, Wis.

U.S. Silica is building a new frac sand facility located on the CP’s rail line in Sparta, Wis., that will produce Northern White sand for use in shale basins across the United States and Canada.

Under the agreement, CP will become the exclusive rail service provider at this facility for the movement of U.S. Silica’s frac sand to destination markets. The design of the Sparta facility will allow U.S. Silica to build unit trains of frac sand with a focus on shipments into the Bakken shale in North Dakota to support the area’s growing need for proppant. The facility will produce and ship three different grades of dry sand and is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2013.

“Our agreement with U.S. Silica leverages the strength of CP’s network through Wisconsin with service to key energy regions throughout North America,” said Jane O’Hagan, Canadian Pacific executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “We are pleased to be in a position to provide the capacity to our partners like U.S. Silica to respond to the strong growth in the energy-related markets.”