Bill Mercer
Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.
Dr. Mercer has been VP, Exploration with Avalon since 2007. He enjoyed a 32-year career with the Noranda/Falconbridge group, ultimately serving as Director-Geology and Geochemistry.
Dr. Mercer’s exploration career spans over 30 countries and a variety of commodities including base metals, gold, bauxite and rare metals. Dr. Mercer was also a “Champion of Six Sigma,” with training to Black Belt level, and responsible for the supervision of Six Sigma efficiency methods in exploration and closed mine sites. As corporate Director of Geology and Geochemistry, he had dual reporting responsibilities to the SVP-Exploration and SVP-Business Development and was a team member in assessment of major projects and mines for acquisition.
Dr. Mercer served as the President of the Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences (CFES) from 2008 to 2010, and as President of the Prospectors and Developers Association (PDAC) from 2002 to 2004.
He currently chairs the PDAC Health and Safety Committee. Dr. Mercer is the recipient of the David Barr Award from the Association for Mineral Exploration in British Columbia for excellence in leadership and innovation in mineral exploration health and safety; the PDAC Distinguished Service Award; and the Award for Environmental Excellence of the NWT Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists. In 2013 he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his service to the Canadian mining industry.
Dr. Mercer earned his BSc. in geology from Edinburgh University (1968) and a PhD from McMaster University (1975).