Segment Reporting - Additional Information (Details) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) Product Segment	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information
Number of reportable segments \| Segment	2
Number of products in Industrial & Specialty segment (over 400) \| Product	400
Goodwill	$ 414,257	$ 272,079
Operating Segments \| Oil & Gas Proppants
Segment Reporting Information
Goodwill	250,300	247,500
Operating Segments \| Industrial & Specialty Products
Segment Reporting Information
Goodwill	$ 164,000	$ 24,600

Number of products from which reportable segment derives its revenues.

No definition available.

Name:	slca_NumberOfProductsFromWhichReportableSegmentDerivesItsRevenues
Namespace Prefix:	slca_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77989000&loc=SL49117168-202975

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99380562&loc=d3e13770-109266

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_Goodwill
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SegmentReportingInformationLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	srt_ConsolidationItemsAxis=us-gaap_OperatingSegmentsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=slca_OilAndGasProppantsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=slca_IndustrialAndSpecialtyProductsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: