Norton Proppants recently announced an 80-million-pound capacity expansion at its Fort Smith, Ark., manufacturing facility. Engineering for the project has begun, and construction is scheduled to begin later this year, with completion slated for 2004. The Fort Smith expansion, designed to meet the increasing demand for Norton Proppants products, is the first of several planned by the company to increase manufacturing capacity. "The market for ceramic proppants has expanded as demand for natural gas continues to grow," said Tom Duncan, general manager. "There is also an escalating demand for Versaprop(TM), Norton Proppants' new product, which has the widest application range in the industry."

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