Proponents back away from divisive plan to mine sand for fracking near Kanab

(Photo courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society) This photo from a May trip to Red Knoll near Kanab shows some of the landscape in the area of a proposed sand mind, which would provide material to use in fracking operations in the Uinta Basin. A controversial sand quarry proposed for the undulating pink dunes outside Kanab will not get developed, according to an announcement the mine proponents released Thursday.

Citing unspecified findings of its “due diligence activities” and “other feasibility assessments,” Southern Red Sands said it will not pursue the venture that it expected would produce up to 700,000 tons of sand to be used in fracking operations a few hundred miles away in Uinta…