Dr Leo Vonopartis

Dr Leo Vonopartis is a lecturer in Economic Geology at the School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand. With a strong foundation in both academia and industry, Dr Vonopartis has a diverse research background, with a particular focus on critical metal mineralisation within granites and pegmatites in southern Africa. After his PhD and Post-doctoral research on magmatic-hydrothermal critical metal deposits, Dr Vonopartis then ventured out of academia and worked as a process mineralogist at Mintek. There he was involved in research and commercial work on the characterisation and evaluation of various ore deposits for exploration, mining, and mineral processing. Since then, he has rejoined the geoscience team at Wits and now specialises in furthering ore deposit science through applied mineralogy, geochemistry, and the sustainable beneficiation of mineral resources. Dr Vonopartis is also involved in meteorite and bolide research, with a particular focus on recent southern African meteorite events, especially in the classification and study of African meteorites

Relevant Publications

  1. Jogee B., Manzi M., Maduna N., Brodic B., Rapetsoa M., James I., Sihoyiya M., Nwaila G., Nex P., Bourdeau J. and Vonopartis L., 2025, Structure and mineralization in the Lebowa Granite Suite: Insights from high-resolution 2D reflection seismics, Ore and Energy Resource Geology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oreoa.2025.100108.

  2. Vonopartis, L., Nex, P., Kinnaird, J., Robb, L. and Bolhar, R., 2025. The magmatic-hydrothermal transition recorded by trace elements-in-quartz: A case study from the Zaaiplaats tin field, South Africa. Miner. Deposita. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-025-01363-x.

  3. Gibson R., Cooper T., Vonopartis L., Dodd C., Hers P., Ashwal L. and Symonds R., 2025. A First Report on the Nqweba Bolide and Meteorite Fall Event in the Eastern Cape Province on 25 August 2024. SAJS. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2025/21600.

Affiliations

  • School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand,Private Bag 3, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa

  • African Research Centre for Ore System Science (CORES), School ofGeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan SmutsAve, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa

Research Interests

  • Economic Geology

  • Mineralogy 

  • Granites & Pegmatites

  • Critical Metal Mineralisation

  • Meteoritics