fairmount minerals

fairmount minerals is responsible for a fair amount of the minerals mined in the Midwest. Operating through several divisions and subsidiaries, the company is one of the United States' largest producers of industrial sand used for construction, metal casting, glass, landscaping, oil and gas stimulation, filtration, abrasives, and filler. Products include silica sand, resin-coated sand, lake sand, and other specialty sands, including those used in pool filters, golf course bunkers, and children's sand boxes. fairmount minerals has operations in seven states (primarily in the Midwest) and in Canada, Mexico, and China, 11 mining and mineral processing facilities and seven manufacturing plants.

In 2010 fairmount minerals sold 51% of its privately-held shares to American Securities, a New York private equity firm. The deal raised about $700 million for fairmount minerals and created a $75 million revolving fund. The company said it would use the money to rebalance its employee pension fund, which had grown overdependent on company stock.

The value of fairmount minerals' stock increased in value in recent years as the company (through its Santrol unit) became more involved with selling purified sand and coated sand to the oil and gas industry. The sand is pumped into wells in order to stimulate oil and gas production.