S.Africa govt to reject winelands mining bid -paper

JOHANNESBURG, March 11 (Reuters) - South Africa's government will not approve an application by a state mining firm to prospect and possibly mine in the country's main wine producing region, the Business Day newspaper reported on Thursday.

The state-owned African Exploration Mining and Finance Corp. (AEMFC) applied for rights to prospect for copper, silver, manganese, zinc, tin, lead and lithium in areas used by wine producers.

Sandile Nogxina, director general in the Department of Mineral Resources, said the government was unlikely to approve the application, as it was for mining activities on land that was under agricultural production.

"Those people discovered during a consultative process that these were vineyards -- after the application had been lodged," the paper quoted Nogxina as saying.

"Definitely the application is not going anywhere, as, if mining went ahead, we would have to expropriate those farms and the operations."

Wine producers, residents and environmental groups had opposed the application by AEMFC and planned to take their protests to the courts, the Business Day said. (Reporting by Muchena Zigomo)