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Revitalizing the soil

Growers produce more with Bend company's remineralizing product
By Rachael Rees / The Bulletin Published: August 26. 2012 4:00AM PST While the worst drought in decades has left corn in Kansas withering on the stalk, Bruce Schulz is producing more corn than he averages in good conditions after treating his fields with Excelerite, a soil supplement from a Bend-based company. Schulz said he's been using the product for three years on his southeast Kansas farm. Before using Excelerite, he said one of his 58-acre fields produced about 100 bushels of corn. With Excelerite, even in the drought, he had 175 bushels. Schulz isn't the only one using Excelerite. Maragas Winery, in Culver, and other farms, ranches and nurseries in Central Oregon use the product. US Rare Earth Minerals, the company that mines and sells Excelerite, sells the product throughout the country and has signed agreements this year to distribute the soil remineralizing product in China, Dubai, Vietnam and Canada and is in negotiations for other international markets. It can even be purchased on Amazon.com.

US Rare Earth Minerals, Inc. PO Box 9759 Bend, OR 97708 www.us-rem.com

US Rare Earth Minerals, headquartered in Bend, posted a net loss of $213,862 for the first six months of this year, according to its quarterly report filed Aug. 14 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. But in the August letter to shareholders, Dennis Cullison, president and CEO, announced that US Rare Earth Minerals was no longer a development stage company, and it's debt free. We are now in launch mode," he wrote. US Rare Earth Minerals started in 2005 as a company called US Organic Marketing. In 2008, the company went public. According to Cullison, a Bend resident, Excelerite has been going through testing to obtain state and federal approval and organic certification for the last three years. Excelerite is essentially montmorillonite, a mineral clay mined from the 2,500 acres US Rare Earth Minerals leases in Panaca, Nev., said Paul Hait co-founder and board chairman. Last month, he stepped down from the CEO position. The process to obtain the mineral is both straight forward and cost effective, the 72year-old Bend resident said. We dig the product up, screen it and put in into totes," Hait said. Excelerite contains 16 of the 17 rare earth minerals in micro quantities, he said. The purpose of the product is to restore mineral balance and the microorganism content of depleted soils, he said, in an effort to revitalize the natural nitrogen cycle that causes plant growth. All life begins in the soil," Hait said. The overuse of synthetic fertilizers can, over time, damage the soil and make it less fertile, Hait said. Specifically, the company believes that by adding Excelerite back into the soil, household and commercial farmers are replacing what has been lost by the use of manmade fertilizers over hundreds of years," the company said in its latest annual report. Hait said he realized the power of the minerals when he tried it on his own plants about six years ago. I was told there was magic dirt in Nevada," he said. We tried (montmorillonite) on our blueberries and we saw a remarkable response ... . We had bowls of blueberries." Hait said after his experience, he brought back more of the product for regional testing and decided it was worth investing in. Even if you have all the research in the world, your customers say 'send me some, I want to try it,'" he said. You have to get the product into the hands of the farmer to make sure it does what you say it does." Doug Maragas, owner of Maragas Winery in Culver, was one of those farmers. Before purchasing the product, he said he tested Excelerite. He put the clay on

US Rare Earth Minerals, Inc. PO Box 9759 Bend, OR 97708 www.us-rem.com

a portion of his vineyards and kale gardens to compare the results. The vines that we mineralized with Excelerite did significantly better," he said. I was surprised on how much better they did just from a mineral supplement." When the vines were harvested, the rows with Excelerite totaled 122 pounds of grapes, while the untreated rows yielded 68.5 pounds. In his kale garden, Maragas said the row treated with Excelerite went dormant during the winter, but a significant portion regrew the next spring. Comparatively, he said, hardly any of the untreated rows grew back. I went round and round and couldn't find anything but Excelerite for the difference," he said. It was the only variable that I could discern." Maragas said he bought eight tons of the product early this year and is currently planting 21 acres of vineyards. There's no doubt that it works," he said. Matt Haynes, fertilizer specialist for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said the company has registered with the department, met the regulations for fertilizer and other soil enhancing products and is allowed to sell the product under its approved label. (Excelerite) does have guaranteed amounts of iron, soluble potash, calcium, magnesium, chlorine, cobalt and sodium," he said. They are all necessary plant nutrients. Plants can't survive without them." US Rare Earth Minerals has had analysis done on the product that show there are other elements in Excelerite, but they aren't necessary for plant growth. Therefore, the department lets them claim those contents under nonplant food ingredients. Along with soil enhancement products for gardens and agriculture, US Rare Earth Minerals also sells four other products: Excelerite for livestock and pets, Excelerite for fish and ponds, and two Excelerite products for humans a supplement and face mask. Richard Ten Eyck, feed specialist with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, said there's no nutrition in the clay for animal feed. But, he said the department recognizes it as a remineralizer, pellet binder, flow agent and for its ability to extend concentrated ingredients in feed. Reporter: 541-617-7818, rrees@bendbulletin.com

US Rare Earth Minerals, Inc. PO Box 9759 Bend, OR 97708 www.us-rem.com