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News from and about Ukraine & Ukrainians: Ukrainian Community Press Releases
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BRAMA, April 10, 2002, 2 pm ET
The Khmelnytsky Saponite Project
Khmelnytsky District, west of Kyiv
e-mail: aurora@telus.net
www.blackseaminerals.com
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A mineral which researchers says absorbs radiation in animals is being produced in Ukraine with the help of an investment company in Canada.
The mineral is saponite, a form of clay, and the Canadian company is Aurora Pacific Consulting and Development Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia.
The saponite is being developed into a natural feed supplement for cattle, pigs and chickens, and Walter Stunder, president of Aurora Pacific, says that this natural supplement not only reduces the amount of radiation in animals to whose feed it is added, it also increases the rate at which these animals grow--and the extent to which they grow.
Mr. Stunder, who speaks Ukrainian fluently, cites the battery of test results by government researchers in Ukraine, and patents filed in Ukraine covering the numerous uses of saponite--which is actually a complex of minerals.
"Our investigations show not only that saponite is a great resource to exploit, they show also with certainty that the saponite project in Ukraine is a good one in which to invest."
The ground in which saponite is found in Ukraine lies primarily in Khmelnytsky District west of Kyiv.
Two huge deposits totaling 55 million tonnes have been identified there with possible reserves in the area totaling 100 million tonnes.
"Our research indicates that while saponite deposits are found in such countries as Canada, the United States, Japan, England and Spain, the biggest in the world are found in Ukraine," Mr. Stunder said.
Located close to major transportation corridors, the big saponite deposits in Ukraine--covered by only a light overburden--may also be the most accessible.
The name 'saponite' comes from the Latin 'sapo', which means soap, and anyone handling saponite will recognize the connection.
Saponite has a soapy--or oily--feel to it.
Pliny the Elder, the Ancient Roman writer, refers to the use of clays as soaps and absorbents in his Natural History, and modern researchers believe he was referring to what we now call the saponite group of clays.
Modern use of saponite as a natural mineral supplement to animal feed in Ukraine dates back a decade or so, and researchers employed by such state institutions as Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of Poultry Keeping, Ukrainian Scientific Institute of Agriculture and Veterinary Council of former USSR have noted significant benefits since.
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| Walter Stunder, president of Canadian investment company helping development of saponite clay deposit in Ukraine. |
Mr. Stunder cites the following as a sample of benefits proven by research tests:
Mr. Stunder says research on saponite as a mineral capable of absorbing radiation in animals--and plants--was conducted by the Laboratory of Radio-ecological Reliability of Biosystems, a member of Botany Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.
In the case of plants, state scientists applied saponite to soil during the growing season, and noted the significant reduction of such radioactive materials as Caesium-137 in crops during the harvest season.
In the case of animals, the scientists showed that concentrations of radioactive particles in pigs, cattle and poultry whose fodder was mixed with saponite were less than in animals whose fodder was not.
Mr. Stunder said also that after the Kiev Institute of Advanced Medical Studies carried out studies on the benefits of saponite as a medicine for humans and animals, it was confirmed that digested saponite is capable of absorbing toxic heavy metals, radioactive materials, and such viruses as the poliomyelitic virus and the Hepatitis A virus.
"By absorbing viruses, saponite can act as a prophylactic to disease."
On the strength of this, some bakery shops in Ukraine are reported to be selling bread containing saponite additive.
Likewise, some people with stomach problems are chewing on saponite instead of activated-charcoal.
Aurora Pacific is helping its Ukrainian partners develop the massive saponite deposits of Khmelnytsky District by raising funds for a (U.S.) $300,000 modern primary-treatment facility to process the saponite after it is mined.
Aurora Pacific is also helping its Ukrainian partners market the saponite additive to a wider base of customers.
The Ukrainian partners have previously marketed largely to feedlots in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and other member states of the former Soviet Union.
The marketing plan developed by Aurora Pacific calls for large-scale European, even worldwide, marketing to feedlots, and also expanding marketing based on the results of saponite as a potential human and animal medicine, fertilizer, radiation-neutralizing agent, crop preservative and food preservative.
For more information, phone 1-877-454-7872 fax (604) 685 1596 e-mail: aurora@telus.net
For more information also, visit the web site at www.blackseaminerals.com
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