"Texas Tycoon Strikes Gold with Sand Sales to Frackers"
Bud Brigham, a Texas tycoon, has made a fortune selling sand to oil fracking operations. His company, Atlas Energy Solutions, is the largest sand supplier in the Permian Basin, with deep reserves that could last for 100 years. With the demand for sand in fracking operations reaching preposterous amounts, Brigham's company fills up to 1,200 trucks a day with 24 tons of sand each. To further expand his business, Brigham plans to build a 42-mile electric sand conveyor belt called Dune Express, which will cut transportation costs in half and reduce the number of sand trucks on the roads. Despite challenges such as habitat destruction for the dunes sagebrush lizard, Brigham's sand business is thriving, and his net worth is estimated to be over $500 million.