My personal zeolite story
Our father always regaled us with stories about the power of zeolite: for calves, for open sores on udders, for diseased hooves in cattle. We heard about pig farmers who visited him on Sundays to thank him because the neighbors no longer complained about the smell of manure, because they could now have their picnics next to the manure pit, and because the alfalfa had five cuts (meaning they could harvest it five times instead of four). His stories always fascinated me, and it was wonderful to hear Dad on his true path , to witness how he worked harder than ever, found deep meaning in it, and was happy—and still is.
Now I find myself right in the middle of this field of working with the soil, the animals, the plants, surrounded by natural rocks. The fascination has rubbed off on me, and it is a great joy for me to witness the happiness of our customers and to be able to advise them.
How can you recognize good quality zeolite?
1. Where does the raw material come from? And how is the raw material zeolite mined?
There aren't many zeolite mining sites. In fact, there are none in Austria, and no zeolite deposits can be found in Germany either. The first thing to know is that different mining sites contain zeolite with varying compositions. This means that zeolite from Turkey, Romania, Poland, Ukraine, Norway, Cuba, Slovakia, and other countries has different mineral compositions.
My father and brother have thoroughly examined all raw materials over the past few years (except those from Cuba), analyzed them, and checked the extraction methods. For STEINKRAFT zeolite, we then clearly opted for the raw material from eastern Slovakia, from Košice.
Several reasons are crucial for us:
Criteria for STEINKRAFT Zeolite: Composition and extraction method
- the composition of the mineral,
- the high silicon content,
- the high clinoptilolite content and
- the proportion of heavy metals, which – and this is important – is within the acceptable range.
At this quarry, raw material extraction is carried out selectively by an Austrian company; and instead of blasting, they use a scraping method! We like that. This means the raw material isn't contaminated by blasting, preventing cross-contamination. High quality standards, equivalent to Austrian standards, are maintained during extraction at the site.
Caution with zeolite
You should be particularly wary if the source of zeolite is not disclosed or is described vaguely in offers. The Carpathian Mountains, for example, are a long mountain range that stretches across several countries. There are several deposits there with very different qualities. Decide for yourself whether you want zeolite from Poland, Romania, Ukraine, or Turkey, or whether you want to choose a zeolite that possesses the qualities described above. Professor Dr. Hecht, the international zeolite expert, recommends the mining area in Košice, eastern Slovakia.
2. The milling method for zeolite is particularly important - it MUST be tribomechanical.
Conventional grinding processes are carried out using ball mills. I recently had the opportunity to examine one of these mills more closely. Huge, spherical shapes made of different metals grind the minerals. They are rubbed against each other until the raw material reaches the desired fineness. These balls have to work for quite some time to achieve a fineness of 50 microns. These balls (sometimes discs) must be replaced regularly due to the high rate of metal abrasion.
And where does this abrasion go during grinding? Zeolite attracts metal, so the abrasion is absorbed and contaminated by the zeolite. At the same time, the internal crystal lattice is compressed during this grinding process. The effectiveness of the zeolite is therefore minimized.
My brother always explains it with a Maltesers ball: if you were to grind it up, the inner cavities would eventually be crushed and thus sealed. With our STEINKRAFT products, we avoid all of that thanks to our special TRIBOMECHANICAL air pulverization (Air2Air): the crystal lattices are preserved, even further opened up, the effectiveness is increased, and the zeolite is pulverized finely and without abrasion.
CONCLUSION: Tribomechanically micronized, unblasted zeolite yields products of high purity with even higher basic energy (Bovis) - and a very good feeling.
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