Advisory Board

William Mercer, P. Geo. (Ont), is a geological consultant based in Oakville, Ontario. He has a BSc in geology (Edinburgh University, 1968) and a PhD (McMaster University, 1975). Since graduating, he has been employed continuously with Mattagami Lake Mines, Noranda and then Falconbridge. He worked for Mattagami and then Noranda in exploration managerial positions in western Canada. Later, for Noranda, he was Director - Latin America Exploration, Director - International Exploration then Chief Geologist. After the merger of Noranda and Falconbridge he became Director, Geology and Geochemistry for Falconbridge where he supervised the Geological Services Group. Geological Services provided technical advice to the field operations, QA/QC oversight, EHS implementation and computer services (exploration intranet, drill program database management). His work has taken him to almost every continent, to over 30 countries and involvement in exploration and assessment of deposit types including porphyry Cu, Cu-Au and Mo, VMS and sedex base metal deposits, epithermal gold, bauxite and lateritic nickel. Bill retired from the company in 2006.

His responsibilities have ranged from management of large exploration groups based in Canada and overseas, to internal technical advice on advanced acquisitions as part of the Business Development group, negotiation of joint venture agreements, review of resource reports, implementation of QA/QC programs and implementation and auditing of Environment, Health and Safety programs. He was also a pioneer of the Six Sigma improvement initiative at Noranda since 1999, both as Black Belt and Champion of Six Sigma.

He was President of the Prospectors and Developers Association in 2002-2004 and honoured with the Distinguished Service Award in 2006. He is a member of the Natural Resources Canada, Minister’s National Advisory Board for Earth Sciences. He is also a member or fellow of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Society of Economic Geologists, the Association of Exploration Geochemists and the Geological Association of Canada.