Frack-Sand Miner Hi-Crush’s Woes Deepen With Chesapeake Collapse

Hi-Crush Inc., a frack-sand miner teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, is in an even more precarious position after customer Chesapeake Energy Corp. went under.

Hi-Crush, the first company to bring sand mining closer to the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico as a way to lower costs for drillers, is listed as one of the biggest unsecured creditors in Chesapeake’s bankruptcy, with a claim of $4.1 million. The filing Sunday lists more than 100,000 creditors.

The plight of Hi-Crush and the collapse of Chesapeake lay bare the inter-connectedness of the U.S. oil and gas exploration ...