EOG is Building a Frac Sand Mine in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, to Mine the Lower Pennsylvanian Pottsville Group Sharon Sandstone for its Utica-Point Pleasant Wells

     EOG Resources has long had a successful strategy of mining its own sandstone for frac sand. Now, it is constructing a frac sand mine/quarry in Tuscarawas County. Ohio, presumably in the Sharon Sandstone, aka Sharon Conglomerate of the Pennsylvanian Pottsville Group. This is very close to where the company is drilling wells in the Ordovician Utica-Point Pleasant Formation. Such a synergy allows the company to save significant transport costs as well as reduce emissions from transport. The Sharon Sandstone is a very clean sand with a very high quartz content. In the subsurface, it may be a groundwater aquifer, but it is usually associated with salty water, hence the driller’s name, Salt Sand. It produces small amounts of natural gas in a few isolated places. J. Osborne, in a 1955 Geological Society of America paper, described it:

“The formation is dominantly a pure (96+% SiO2), medium-grained, quartz sandstone (orthoquartzite) with a few pebble layers or scattered pebbles.”

     The Sharon Conglomerate is the lowest formation in the Pennsylvanian in the region and sits unconformably on the Mississippian-age section below it. The unconformity marks the Pennsylvanian-Mississippian boundary. The conglomeratic bands typically occur at the base of the unit right above the unconformity, and the quartzose sandstone with good frac sand qualities is likely right above it. The prospective area for frac sand likely follows the geologic map, and if one combines that with the areas of drilling, the most prospective area is a NE-SW band from Canton to east of Zanesville. Below is a geologic map of Ohio. I drew in the Utica play outline in light green and the prospective area for frac sand in red. The black circle is the approximate spot of EOG’s sand mine. The yellow highlight is the approximate position of the oil window, although it is likely extended a bit too far to the west. One can see that EOG hit a nice, sweet spot in the heart of its play, as far as location is concerned.

     According to the Kentucky Geological Survey, the Sharon Sandstone has been mined as a Tier II frac sand in Southern Ohio.   

“…the Sharon Sandstone in southern Ohio, contains rounded grains and is very weathered, easily mined and marketed as a Tier II frac sand.”

     In Southeastern Ohio, the Sharon Conglomerate/Sandstone equivalent is thought to have a different sediment source area. It outcrops in Jackson County, Ohio, where the unconformity can be observed. As can be seen below, in a roadcut in Jackson County, the unconformity is at the big color change, with the Sharon Formation sitting on top. The picture was taken by the awesome geologist and photographer James St. John.

     I am not sure if the Sharon Formation in northeastern Ohio makes a Tier I or Tier II frac sand, but it must be of high quality for EOG to pursue it. The likely different sediment sources of the northeastern and southern equivalent sands suggest that their qualities may vary. Indeed, as the section below from the Ohio Geological Survey confirms, it can exceed 99% quartz in some places.

     EOG’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Leitzell noted in a recent conference call that the frac sand mine is on target to be online by the end of the year. Below is a still from a YouTube video by a drone operator of the construction site made a couple of months ago. The link for the video is in the references.

 

 

 

References:

 

SOURCE OF SHARON CONGLOMERATE OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO Available to Purchase. J. OSBORN FULLER. GSA Bulletin (1955) 66 (2): 159–176. SOURCE OF SHARON CONGLOMERATE OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO | GSA Bulletin | GeoScienceWorld

Fracture (Frac) Sands in Kentucky. Kentucky Geological Survey. Fracture (Frac) Sands in Kentucky, Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky

Fracture Sand in Ohio. Mark E. Wolfe. Geofacts No. 27. Ohio Division of Geological Survey. September 2013. GeoFacts No. 27—Fracture Sand in Ohio

EOG COO Lays Out Why the Ohio Utica Beats the PA Side. Marcellus Drilling News. September 10, 2026. EOG COO Lays Out Why the Ohio Utica Beats the PA Side - Marcellus Drilling News

Sand Processing Construction Site Strasburg, Ohio 7-7-2026. Bing Videos