Mike Wallenius is currently the President of Applied Operational Knowledge, LLC (aka - AOK). He received his B.S. in Mining Engineering from Michigan Technological University. With more than three and a half decades of mining and processing knowledge in copper, gold, and industrial minerals as his main resource, Mike is well prepared to advise and consult with his clients in helping them achieve maximum returns on their investments in the mining industry. Mike formed AOK for this purpose.During his years in the industry, Mike worked his way up from front-line supervision to Vice President of Operations and Technical Services responsible for all Operations, Geology, Mine Planning, and Engineering activities in the USA and Canada for Unimin Corporation, a major worldwide industrial mineral producer and the world’s leading producer of frac sand. Much of Mike’s experience was focused in the production of frac sand for use the energy sector. He was involved in and led activities including: resource identification, proving of reserves, land acquisition, permitting, geologic modeling, mine planning, process plant design, plant construction, plant start-up, and the maximization of plant capacity. This was accomplished in a safe manner by thinking and reasoning through all aspects of the process from beginning to end long before the “on the ground” processes were actually started. Since the formation of AOK, Mike’s work activities have been exclusively devoted to his clients in the area of frac sand development and production. He has worked with clients already established in the frac sand business to help them grow and improve their production capabilities. He has also worked with clients to help them understand the greenfield requirements for new frac sand productive capabilities. Much of his greenfield work has been focused in West Texas where existing and new frac sand producers are working to develop “in-basin” frac sand resources.