U.S. Silica's Pacific plant mines 98.8% whole grain silica sand from the St. Peter's Formation. The physical properties of the Pacific products make it effective in flat glass, glass containers, chemical, foundry, and the oil and gas industries.
Our surface mines at the Pacific facility use natural gas and electricity to produce whole grain, ground and fine ground silica through a variety of mining methods, including hard rock and hydraulic mining. Since acquiring the facility we renovated and upgraded its production capabilities to enable it to produce multiple products through various processing methods, including hydraulic sizing, fluid bed drying, grinding, dry screening, classifying and microsizing.
Mining operations have been conducted here since the early 1900s. Some of the initial material mined at this site was used to build the famous Route 66, which fronts the plant. In 1924, Pioneer Silica Products purchased a 205-acre tract of land and began mining underground. The underground rooms from this mine remain intact today and are used as storage and access.
The facility is located approximately 50 miles southwest of St. Louis and is accessible by major highways including U.S. Interstate 44.
