Paarl Grey Granite

OUR QUARRY
Throughout the years the Clifts have focused their skills on creating quality stonework in a wide variety of fields, and no granite is exported unprocessed. However, neither do they restrict themselves to the 500 tons of Paarl Grey that they extract annually form their own quarry. Exotic sounding ranges are acquired from all over South Africa -Belfast Black, Lebowa Red, Parys Multicolour, Rustenburg and sandstone, as well as a range of imported marble and granite; all exquisitely crafted into timeless stone articles. The quarry on De Hoop farm has been worked for nearly ninety years now, but a test drill hole shows that a solid granite bank of more than 90 metres still remains - enough for another four generations of Clifts.
More about De Hoop's quarry
The Delfos slotting machine was bought in 1971 and is still in use today. In 1975 the Paarl Municipality set a limit to the De Hoop quarry, and today the quarry only produces granite for the companya's own needs. In the 1980s a test hole 90m deep was drilled through solid rock, and the geologist working on the site established that the De Hoop quarry had a reserve of 108,000m3 of good quality granite with stable slope
"We have a huge respect for the granite we quarry here at De Hoop. Once you remove a block of granite, it is gone forever and cannot be replaced. We extract only what we need, and with as little damage to the surrounding rock as possible." - David William Clift
"A quarry is always a dinamic environment and you always have to be on the lookout for falling stones and rocks shattering as the pressure inside the granite intrusion is released. On a rainy day the quarry becomes a no-go area." - David William Clift