Wilhelm Kupferburger, economic geologist, was the only son of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Kupferburger, an inspector of schools in the Free State, and his wife Johanna Maria Jacoba, born Weich. He received his early education in Bloemfontein and subsequently went to school in Ladybrand, where he matriculated in 1914. Continuing his studies at Victoria College, Stellenbosch (which became the University of Stellenbosch in 1918) he graduated as Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1917 and Master of Science (MSc) in geology in 1918, serving as student assistant to Professor S.J. Shand* during the latter year. After graduating he obtained a position as lecturer in geology and assistant to Professor R. B. Young* at the University College, Johannesburg (which became the University of the Witwatersrand in 1922), succeeding D. P. McDonald*. In 1919 he published an article on "The geological basis of South African geography" in the South African Geographical Journal (Vol. 3, pp. 30-34) and in 1921, in the same journal, reviewed the Kalahari irrigation scheme proposed by E. H. L. Schwarz*. During 1923-1924 he continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, then returned to his lecturing post at the University of the Witwatersrand where he was awarded the DSc degree in geology in 1927 with a thesis on The fluorspar, lead and zinc deposits of the western Transvaal. His thesis was published in the Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa (1927, Vol. 30, pp. 5-56). He then received a government bursary to study the marketing of South African base mineral exports and to this end travelled widely in Britain, Europe, the United States and Canada. His main interest was in the occurrence and uses of asbestos, corundum and fluorspar, topics on which he published several papers, for example, "Chrysotile in the Union of South Africa" (Asbestos, 1928), "An abrasive industry for South Africa (corundum)" (Mining and Industrial Magazine of South Africa, 1928), "Mining amosite asbestos in the Pietersburg district, South Africa" (Engineering and Mining World, 1930) and "Fluorspar veins near Hlabisa, Zululand" (Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa, 1934).
In July 1929 Kupferburger was appointed as mineral technologist to the Division of Economics and Markets of the Department of Mines to advise on the occurrence and uses of the country's base minerals and arrange contracts between producers and overseas buyers. In 1932 he was transferred to the Geological Survey as economic geologist (later principal geologist), with the result that his work became more closely associated with field investigations of mineralized regions. For example, he was put in charge of the Geological Survey's field work on the Murchison Range mineralized belt in the Transvaal Lowveld and the chrome ore deposits in the Bushveld Igneous Complex. He reported on the latter investigation (1937, with B. V. Lombaard, B. Wasserstein and C. M. Schwellnus) and on the investigations of the travertine deposits at Port St Johns (1935) and the occurrences of corundum in South Africa (1935) in Bulletins of the Geological Survey.
Kupferburger resigned his post in October 1937 to join the staff of African Metals Corporation as geologist to lead the search for sources of raw materials for the production of ferro-metals. Among others he investigated deposits of iron, manganese, chrome, copper, tungsten, dolomite and phosphates. He was promoted to superintendent of mines in 1940 and to consulting geologist in 1954, remaining with the corporation until his death in 1959. He also served on the board of the Fuel Research Institute from 1930 to 1932 and from 1950 was a director of South African Manganese, Ltd.
Kupferburger was an active member of the Geological Society of South Africa, serving as a member of its council from 1921 to 1926 and from 1933 to 1946, as honorary secretary in 1926, as vice-president in 1935, 1936 and 1938, and as president in 1937. His presidential address was a review of the base metal industry and was published in the society's Proceedings (1938). He was a member also of the South African Geographical Society, serving on its council from 1920 to at least 1927 and as joint vice-president in 1923. He was married to Elsie Marie Mackenzie, with whom he had a son and a daughter. He has been described as a person with a zest for living, a pleasant personality and a keen sense of humour.
