A lab to test sand for its fracking ability

LAB SA, a material testing site for the construction industry, has opened a new proppant testing lab in Adelaide to service the emerging unconventional oil and gas industry. It is one of the only independent labs of its kind in Australia.

According to South Australian Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis, the idea for the lab originated more than two years ago when LAB SA received a request from a client to test silica sand for its fracking ability. Silica sand is used as a proppant to keep fractures open deep underground after drilling, in order to stimulate more oil and gas through a well.

“Management at LAB SA didn’t know what proppants were and knew little about fracking,” Koutsantonis said.

“But the company saw a significant opportunity to be an integral part of a local supply chain in which they could provide testing services for sand and ceramic proppants and concrete, geotechnical and aggregate materials testing.”

Now, having receiving $100,000 in grant funding from the SA Government’s Mining and Petroleum Services Centre of Excellence, LAB SA has opened its Proppant Testing Laboratory at Mawson Lakes. The lab has already been used to test silica sands for their proppant suitability for mining companies in the US and the Australian states of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

As explained by LAB SA General Manager Andrew Attard, LAB SA is well positioned to conduct the testing service.

“We are close to the local suppliers and we’ve got a unique understanding of local products, so we can get testing results done in a matter of days rather than weeks — and that gives us about a 40–50% reduction in testing costs,” he noted.

“Because of our independence, and our ability to work across the three areas of soils, quarry materials and concrete, we’ve got a good chance to make an impact in quite a diverse range of areas in the mining and resources sector. It’s one of our key strategic goals now to make the most of this impetus we’ve got from this new proppant lab.”