There has been a good deal of commentary on the idea of prospecting for minerals in parts of the winelands (people are more than welcome to add links to this page via the comments facility). (Click here for Grape's early article on this matter.)This interesting information was sent from John Weaver, at present enduring wild winds at the southern tip of Chile):

The top of the hill (I think called Kanonkop, there is a cannon there) between Jordan and KuilsRiver is the contact zone between the Malmesbury shales and the intrusive Cape Granite. At this contact zone there is a mineral deposit comprising tin, vanadium, plus a some gold. At the turn of the 19th century there was an operating mine on the farm "Langverwacht". There was a shaft dug to trace the vein deposit, with little success. The main mineral deposit was an alluvial deposit that was succesfully mined, and there is still a small alluvial deposit that I was considering mining about 20 years back. There are further smaller deposits all along this contact zone, none of them as well developed as the Kuilsriver deposit.

This contact zone is also known as the "Hornfels zone" after the metamorphic mineral that characterises the contact zone. I believe some cellar has recently labelled a wine as hornfels, hopefully because it is terroir (soil) typical. [Hillcrest in Durbanville will be releasing a wine of this name somethime this year. - TJ]

The reason I know this is that my Uncle (Dr David Mckenzie) plus some family members owned farm Langverwacht. They sold the top portion to Jordan. The main farm was also sold and is now a very succesful wedding venue.

Now to come to the prospecting licence application: Over the past 50 or 80 years there have been a string of geology prospecting camps established with ostensible purpose of exploration and potential discovery of economically viable extensions to this deposit. None have managed to find any extensions, despite months and even years of exploration activities. Now the real reason for this application: This is the only mineral deposit of any consequence that is close to Cape Town, and after many years of prospecting in the bush of Africa, where is a most pleasant and relaxing place to establish for a while - right there in Kuilsriver!

My advice for what its worth - let the geologists establish an R&R camp and expand their wine knowledge. There are a number of winefarm owners who are ex-geologists who would agree with this sentiment. Gary Jordan as an ex-geologist may even reluctantly agree.

[John says he is "A geologist who worked for JCI that had a field camp on Langverwacht for 3 years, but was never posted there".]