Growing Global, Building Local

Local company provides sand for $50+ billion industry as well as excellent job opportunities

Tucked away in Northern Sunrise County (along the east side of the Peace River), an important industrial facility is quietly becoming one of the Peace Region’s bigger and better places to pursue a career.

“We recently underwent a major expansion at our Peace River location, so we’re ready to hire about 50 full-time people for various roles in the coming years,” said Shawn Furlong, President, Production at Source Energy Services.

The proximity of the local plant to Peace River affords locals the opportunity to work in the mining industry without having to endure the camp life model often associated with northern resource extraction.

“It’s only a 30-minute commute to Peace River, which is a great town with all amenities, and most importantly, you can be home every night. In this industry, that’s not often the case,” said Furlong.

Source Energy Services and the Peace River Silica Plant

Founded in 1998, Source Energy Services (SES) is now the largest frac sand company in Western Canada. Headquartered in Calgary—and a publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange—SES mines, processes, stores and delivers frac sand internationally from their four silica plants.

Operating three plants in Wisconsin for about 15 years, SES recently added the Peace River silica plant to its roster. Built in 1998 by the Alberta Silica Corporation, Canadian Silica Industries (CSI) took over the Peace River plant in 2014.

“In 2022, we reached an agreement with CSI to operate and manage the Peace River plant’s entire production,” said Furlong. “We currently have around 75 employees for our Peace River operations. Between payroll and vendor services in that area, we are spending $50 to $60 million per year in the region, which will increase as we grow.”

Currently, 3,600 acres (14.57 km2) of mineral resource explorations rights have been granted at the Peace River site.

“Last year we processed 150,000 metric tons of sand. This year, we should do close to 300,000 tons. Now that we’ve expanded our facility, we’ll have the capacity to do a million tons in 2026,” said Furlong. “Every two to three years we line out about a quarter section of land.”

Shawn Furlong, President, Production at Source Energy Services

What is Fracking?

Simply put, fracking is a hydraulic fracturing process of extracting oil and gas that is locked inside deep underground rock formations. It is a global industry conservatively worth over $50 billion, and it’s growing rapidly.

The process starts by drilling a hole down to the rock formation that encases the oil and gas. Then, steel pipe casing that reaches the exterior of the rock formation is installed in a way that seals the well and protects ground water. Next, small explosive charges are used to make perforations, little holes, that will become points of entry for the oil and gas.

Then, a solution of water and silica sand is hydraulically injected down the pipe with enough pressure to penetrate the rock formation, creating a series of cracks that lead to the trapped oil and gas.

Why is Frac Sand Important?

Once the pressure is turned off, the water quickly flows back up these pathways while the sand stays behind, getting trapped in the cracks before they can close tight.

So, the sand is the hero that keeps the doors open, so the oil and gas can flow around the tiny spherical sand particulates and be piped to the surface.

Now Hiring: Roles and Opportunities

SES is actively looking for 50 new full time employees, prioritizing local hires who want to build long-term careers. The opportunities span three main areas:

Mining Operations: Roles focused on operating heavy equipment such as loaders, excavators and haul trucks.

Skilled Trades: Essential positions include millwrights and welders.

Plant Operations: Trainable roles in the wet and dry plant, focusing on quality control and operating the complex system of pumps, conveyors and dry air equipment.

“We can actively train people in a lot of these roles, and we also have roles requiring various ticket and certification levels,” said Furlong. “Visit our website for a full list of career opportunities.”

Competitive Wages and a Safe Place to Work

Source Energy Services believes in the “people first” approach. It’s a company that takes care of its own and helps ambitious people move up whenever possible.

“We offer a highly competitive employment package designed to attract and retain the best talent. We offer full benefits, RRSP matching and a performance-based bonus program that pays out monthly for hourly employees and annually for salaried employees,” said Furlong.

SES also offers a competency program to help employees identify their career goals and outline the steps needed to advance.

“We have numerous examples of people starting in one position and moving to another. Our operations accountant started in the lab at one of our plants and our general manager in Wisconsin started off working in one of the wet plants,” said Furlong. “We look for people who are ready to break through to the next level.”

SES’s commitment to staff is matched by a strong culture of safety program.

“We maintain a robust health, safety and environment (HSE) focus from the CEO down,” said Furlong. “Our safety performance metrics consistently beat industry standards. Our average recordable injury frequency for all our combined operations, nearly 600 employees, is typically 1.0 or below every year.”

Apply to Join Our Team Today: sourceenergyservices.com/careers