Select Sands (SLSD.F) Stock Analysis & Winston Score

Select Sands Corp. is a Canadian mining company that digs up and sells industrial silica sand. Its sand is used in oil and gas drilling — a process called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" — as well as in construction and industrial applications. The company operates a sand mine in Arkansas, which sits on a deposit of high-purity quartz sand. The company makes money by selling raw and processed silica sand to energy companies and industrial buyers, primarily in North America. Select Sands is a small-cap company with a limited operating footprint compared to larger sand producers like U.S. Silica or Hi-Crush. Its Arkansas location gives it a geographic cost advantage for serving certain regional customers, but its main risk is heavy dependence on the health of the North American oil and gas industry — when drilling activity slows, demand for fracking sand drops sharply.