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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-28 Daily Xml
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GEOLOGICAL AWARDS

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:50): Will the Minister for Mineral Resources Development provide any details of recent successes by members of the Department of Primary Industries and Resources in terms of national awards?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:51): In fact, I can provide some details of recent successes by members of the PIRSA team. In the past year, the Geological Society of Australia has honoured two geologists from the Geological Survey Branch in the Mineral and Energy Resources Division and a former director of the mines department for their work. Dr Wolfgang Preiss (Principal Geologist), Dr Anthony Reid (Senior Geochronologist) and Mr Keith Johns have all been recognised by the South Australian division of the society for their contributions to geological research.

Wolfgang Preiss was awarded the 2008 Bruce Webb Medal (Bruce Webb, of course, being another former head of the old department of mines and energy), which is awarded to a person distinguished for leadership who has advanced the earth sciences and/or contributed to the advance of knowledge either within South Australia or from a South Australian base. The award is recognition of Wolfgang's long and distinguished career in geological survey spanning more than 40 years. Dr Preiss is acknowledged as a world authority on the neoproterozoic rocks of the Adelaide Geosyncline—rocks that make up a significant proportion of the Flinders and Mount Lofty Ranges.

New work from the Burra copper mine within the Adelaide Geosyncline undertaken with colleague John Drexel continues to produce important advances in our understanding of the neoproterozoic tectonic evolution and mineralisation of the region. Wolfgang's recent research focus has also been on mapping the palaeoprotoerozoic Willyama Supergroup within the Curnamona Province, rocks which host the giant Broken Hill ore body in New South Wales. Anthony Reid was awarded the 2009 Walter Howchin Medal, which is awarded to a researcher 35 years of age or younger who is distinguished by their significant published work within South Australia or from a South Australian base.

Anthony's ongoing research focus has been on the Gawler Craton and he co-authored the Geological Survey Bulletin 55, 'A Geochronological Framework for the Gawler Craton, South Australia', published in 2007. Anthony has also made contributions to understanding the regional geology of the Gawler Craton in collaboration with University of Adelaide researchers, notably Associate Professor Martin Hand. Anthony and Professor Hand have also co-authored a review paper on the geological evolution of the Gawler Craton.

Anthony's work has regularly appeared in the MESA Journal on topics ranging from tertiary sands of the Eucla Basin to a review of the Achaean geology of the Gawler Craton. Former director-general of mines and energy, Keith Johns, was awarded the 2009 Bruce Webb Medal. Keith was appointed deputy director of mines and government geologist in 1973 and director-general in 1983. He retired from this position in 1992 and continued to publish papers on the history of mining in South Australia.

I am delighted that geologists from the geological survey have been honoured in this way, and have been acknowledged by the geological community for their research efforts. The geological community is committed to supporting high quality geoscientific research aimed at unravelling South Australia's rich and fascinating geology. I add my congratulations to those three geologists on their important awards.

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