The discovery of massive nickel–copper sulphides at Kambalda near Lake Lefroy in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia on the 28 January 1966 heralded the beginning of the nickel industry in Australia. The sulphides at Kambalda assayed 8.3% Ni and 0.5% Cu over 2.7 metres, and were hosted by unusual ultramafic igneous rocks called komatiites
More than 90% of the nation’s total known resources of nickel metal from sulphide deposits were defined during the relatively short period from 1966 to 1973, and production from many komatiite-hosted deposits in the Eastern Goldfields began within two years of discovery. Australia is particularly well endowed with world-class komatiite-associated deposits at Mt Keith (3.4 Mt), Perseverance (2.5 Mt), Yakabindie (1.7 Mt), Kambalda region (1.4 Mt), and Honeymoon Well (1 Mt), along with smaller highgrade deposits (assaying 5–9% Ni) at Cosmos, Prospero, Long, Silver Swan and Victor. In contrast, the nickel resources in Australia’s tholeiitic mafic–ultramafic intrusions (containing more siliceous igneous rocks than komatiites) are substantially smaller than those in the major foreign deposits.
