Emerge Energy Services is expanding its in-basin sand operations to the Mid-Continent Basin with a new mining and processing site in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, the company said June 5.

The 600-acre site has an estimated 20 million tons of reserves, according to the company’s internal analysis. An independent reserves analysis will be conducted by a third-party engineering group. Most of the deposit—about 65%—consists of 100 mesh sand with the rest consisting of 40/70.

The $15 million plant will have a nameplate capacity of 1.5 million tons per year.

“Once the plant begins production, we will have approximately 6.1 million tons per year of in-basin production capacity, or 49% of our new 12.4 million tons per year total capacity,” Emerge Energy CEO Rick Shearer said in a news release. “Demand for in-basin fine mesh product is strong, and we have validated the appetite for local Oklahoma sand with several key customers operating in the Mid-Continent basin. We are in the process of signing up customers under contract for the new plant’s capacity, and we expect to fully contract the plant's capacity by year end.”

The company said its subsidiary Superior Silica Sands signed a 25-year lease agreement for mining rights the 600 acres of land about 60 miles northwest of Oklahoma and agreed to purchase 40 acres of adjoining land for the new wet and dry processing plants. Closing of the land purchase is subject to customary due diligence, Emerge said.

The site will be the company’s third in-basin frac sand operation.