Minotaur Exploration has announced that Executive Director of Exploration, Dr Antonio Belperio, was awarded the Bruce Webb Medal for his contributions to the Earth Sciences. The Webb Medal is the most prestigious annual award given by the South Australian Division of the Geological Society of Australia. It is awarded to a person distinguished for leadership that has advanced the Earth Sciences either within South Australia or from a South Australian base. Dr Belperio’s award was based on four criteria, namely his many contributions to academia, government, industry and the Geological Society.

During his years of academic focus from 1974 to 1982, Dr Belperio held various research positions at James Cook University, University of Dundee and the University of Adelaide where he contributed strongly to the fields of sedimentation, coastal dynamics and sea level change. At the University of Adelaide he was awarded the Tate Medal in recognition of the quality of his research in the Honours year. His PhD research at James Cook University led to a new understanding of the relationship between terrigenous and carbonate sedimentation in the Great Barrier Reef, for which he was awarded a Nuffield Travelling Fellowship. From that time, he has maintained his interest in the long and short-term relationships between climate and sea level, and he continues to have input to research in these areas in association with several long standing colleagues. He has an impressive litany of publications to his credit.

In 1982 Tony joined what was then the Geological Survey of South Australia as a Senior Geologist, rising to Chief Geologist of the Regional Mapping Branch. In addition to geological mapping throughout South Australia and investigations of potentially economic mineral deposits, Tony continued investigations into past sea levels and neotectonics of the southern Australian coastline. In 1994 he received the Stillwell award for the best paper published in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences (Belperio, A.P. 1993 Land subsidence and sea level rise in the Port Adelaide estuary, South Australia. AJES 40, 359-368). The years 1982-1996 were difficult economically for South Australia and government departments were subjected to ‘down-sizing’ and reduced budgets. It was in this context that Tony led Mines and Energy SA into the digital era and systems that he put in place formed the core of the Mines and Energy SA information system.

In 1997 Tony joined Minotaur Gold NL as Chief Geologist, a position which he later held with Minotaur Resources Ltd and Minotaur Exploration Ltd. In 2007 he joined the board as Executive Director of Exploration. It was his professional leadership of the Minotaur Resources exploration team that was responsible for the discovery of the copper-gold resource at Prominent Hill, and that leadership continues today in Australia and offshore and across a range of mineral commodities.

In supporting the Geological Society of Australia, Tony has played key roles in the organisation and through publications, conferences and conventions. He was Federal Secretary of the GSA 1986-1988, served on the Sedimentology Specialist Group committee, and is currently on the editorial board of the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences.