That article is fairly content free except they did link the paper:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;mbio.asm.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;7&#x2F;1&#x2F;e01842-15.full" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;mbio.asm.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;7&#x2F;1&#x2F;e01842-15.full</a><p>* Some show antimicrobial or other therapeutic properties, and they have a long history in the treatment of human diseases (5, 6). However, their use is considered to be “naturopathic” medicine, and to date, none have been approved by regulatory agencies for therapeutic applications.<p>* This deposit differs from other clays such as kaolinite or bentonite. X-ray diffraction shows that KC possesses a low clay mineral content (~24% [wt]), dominated by the presence of biotite (unpublished data). Moreover, as a natural clay deposit, KC has a significant resident microbial community (1,000 to 3,000 taxa), which includes Actinobacteria, which are known to make bioactive small molecules and may contribute to KC activity by the production of antimicrobials (unpublished data).<p>* More recently, the antibacterial activities and physicochemical characteristics of other therapeutic clay minerals have been investigated in the laboratory (11, 12). Haydel et al. reported on the broad-spectrum in vitro antibacterial activities of a natural iron-rich clay (CsAgO2) that was used to treat patients with Buruli ulcer (12).<p>* We suggest that the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity of KC may be a valuable option for the treatment of ESKAPE infections, especially in last-resort situations<p>Looks like they are saying this clay has some interesting physical, microbial, and mineral properties, in other words, it seems like they dont have any idea of why it works but are pretty sure it does.