Nickel West

Nickel West

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Mining
Founded	1960s
Founder	Western Mining Corporation (original)
Headquarters	Western Australia , Australia
Products	Nickel, Cobalt (as by-product)
Owner	BHP
Number of employees	1,600 (affected by 2024 shutdown)
Parent	BHP

Nickel extraction in Western Australia has undergone considerable variability, largely influenced by unstable international nickel market prices, which have led to the repeated shutdown and reopening of mining sites.

Nickel ranks as the sixth most valuable commodity sector in Western Australia, with a valuation of $4.946 billion recorded in 2021–22. That year saw sales of 147,190 tonnes, accounting for 5.5% of the world’s nickel output and representing the entirety of Australia's production. Interestingly, despite the lowest production levels in twenty years, the sales revenue for 2021–22 reached a 15-year peak.

From 1997 until 2022, Western Australia was the exclusive source of nickel production in Australia, until concentrate production resumed at the Avebury project in Tasmania in October 2022.

Australia, predominantly Western Australia, possesses approximately one-third of the global known reserves of nickel laterite and sulfide ores. As of 2011, it stood as the fifth-largest nickel producer worldwide. Beyond Western Australia, significant nickel refining takes place at a facility in Yabulu, Queensland, which processes ore sourced from New Caledonia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Cobalt emerges as a valuable secondary product from nickel mining operations in Western Australia, with 5,314 tonnes produced valued at $522 million during 2021–22.

Early mines

Nickel mining in Western Australia began in the late 1960s with developments at Kambalda, Laverton, Western Australia, and within the Kimberley region. Nickel prices surged to nearly £7,000 per pound by late 1969, fueled by wartime demand from Vietnam and supply interruptions involving Canadian firm Inco (now Vale Canada). In November 1969, a prospector working for Poseidon NL uncovered promising nickel deposits at Mount Windara near Laverton, igniting an investment frenzy as share prices escalated dramatically from $0.50 to $280 by February 1970.

This find triggered an exploration surge during the early 1970s as companies raced to discover new deposits. Western Mining Corporation (WMC) acquired Poseidon and developed it into a significant mining and processing site until 1989. Initial assessments identified 8.5 million tonnes of ore grading 2.02% nickel, equating to approximately 172,000 tonnes of contained metal. The inaugural shipment of nickel concentrate occurred in 1974 amid falling prices. By 1990, WMC had extracted around 5 million tonnes of ore averaging 1.59% nickel content, yielding about 80,000 tonnes of metal.

Mining activities at Windara continued sporadically through the 1990s; several Kambalda mines were divested while remaining assets were merged into the Windarra Nickel Mine, which entered care and maintenance status by 2012.

In 2005, WMC was purchased by BHP and subsequently removed from the Australian Securities Exchange listings.

The Poseidon bubble’s influence on both the nickel industry and investment environment was depicted in the 1971 movie Nickel Queen.

Nickel West

Nickel West represents a segment of BHP, consolidating its nickel operations across Western Australia under one umbrella known as Nickel West Operation. This encompasses assets such as the Mount Keith Mine, Leinster Nickel Mine, Kambalda Nickel Concentrator, Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter, and Kwinana Nickel Refinery.

In 2008, Nickel West’s production reached 85,800 tonnes of nickel, including contributions from the Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine. By 2012, there were indications that BHP might consider selling these operations.

Facing a global surplus and declining prices for nickel, BHP announced on 11 July 2024 that all Nickel West operations would temporarily cease from October 2024 onward and be placed under care and maintenance. This decision impacts around 1,600 employees. The company intends to reassess this status in February 2027 while continuing to invest $450 million annually to maintain readiness for potential reactivation. Affected workers will be offered options including redeployment or redundancy packages.

Current nickel mining activities

Per the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, the key nickel mines operating in Western Australia during 2022–23 are as follows:

Mine	Owner	Location	Production (tonnes)	Period	Source
Leinster Nickel Mine	BHP	Shire of Leonora	80,000Template:Ref	2022–23
Mount Keith Mine	BHP	Shire of Wiluna
Ravensthorpe Nickel Mine	First Quantum Minerals	Shire of Ravensthorpe	21,725	2023
Forrestania Operations	IGO	Shire of Kondinin	11,931	2022–23
Nova Operations	IGO	Shire of Dundas	22,915Template:Ref	2022–23
Murrin Murrin Mine	Minara Resources	Shire of Laverton	31,100Template:Ref	2023
Kambalda Nickel Operations	Wyloo Metals	Shire of Coolgardie	1,404Template:Ref	2021–22
Savannah Mine	Panoramic Resources	Shire of Halls Creek	5,402Template:Ref	2022–23

• During 2022–23, Nova Operations additionally yielded 10,266 tonnes of copper and 803 tonnes of cobalt.
• The production total for BHP encompasses all Nickel West operations.
• In 2023, Murrin Murrin also generated 2,100 tonnes of cobalt.
• Kambalda began production in 2022; ownership transferred to Wyloo Metals in 2023; planned for care and maintenance starting May 2024.
• Savannah produced an extra 3,129 tonnes of copper and 368 tonnes of cobalt in the period 2022–23; it was placed under care and maintenance as of January 2024.

Nickel processing plants

In the fiscal year 2020–21, BHP operated three nickel processing facilities within Western Australia: the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter, the Kambalda Nickel Operations#Kambalda Nickel Concentrator, and the Kwinana Nickel Refinery. Concurrently, the Murrin Murrin nickel refinery was managed by Minara Resources.

Past mining operations

The following table lists previous nickel mining sites:

Mine	Owner	Location	Production period	Production (tonnes)
Beta Hunt Mine	Karora Resources	Shire of Coolgardie	1973–2008, 2014–2018
Black Swan Nickel Mine	Poseidon Nickel	City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder	1997–2008	179,000
Bulong Nickel Mine	Wingstar Investments	City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder	1998–2003
Cawse mine	Wingstar Investments	City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder	1999–2008
Cosmos Nickel Mine	IGO	Shire of Leonora	2000–2012	127,000
Emily Ann and Maggie Hays nickel mines	Poseidon Nickel	Shire of Dundas	2001–2009
Lanfranchi Tramways Nickel Mine	Black Mountain Metals	Shire of Coolgardie	2005–2015
Radio Hill Nickel Mine	Artemis Resources	City of Karratha	2004–2008
Waterloo Nickel Mine	Northern Star Resources	Shire of Leonora	2006–2008
Windarra Nickel Mine	Poseidon Nickel	Shire of Laverton	1974–1978, 1981–1991	93,446

Fatal Incidents

Several fatal accidents have occurred within Western Australia's nickel mining sector, including:

• On 27 April 1977, five workers perished at the Perseverance shaft of the Leinster Nickel Mine after a 35-metre fall inside an ore bucket.
• In 1981, a collapse underground at Leinster mine resulted in one fatality. Later, on 11 December 1985, two men lost their lives due to asphyxiation underground—one during an attempted rescue of the other. Another fatal fall occurred on 11 April 2010 within the mine's subterranean operations.
• On 9 June 1978, two staff members at the Kwinana Nickel Refinery, J. W. Bell and S. J. Haywood, died from asphyxiation caused by nitrogen gas inhalation after Bell collapsed in a hazardous atmosphere likely linked to a defective face mask seal.

Environmental Contamination

The Bulong Nickel Mine, which operated between 1998 and 2003, faced remediation expenses projected at $6.8 million by April 2016, with $6 million already spent. The A$1.1 million security bond from previous proprietors proved inadequate to cover these costs. Since 2013, mining operators have contributed roughly one percent of their profits into a rehabilitation fund that becomes accessible only once it accumulates $500 million. In 2016, this milestone was estimated to require two decades to achieve, leaving statewide restoration costs—estimated around $60 million for sites such as Bulong—unfunded.

Due to issues surrounding abandoned tailings dams and evaporation ponds at Bulong following lease expiry in 2013—and concerns about potential effects on nearby Lake Yindarlgooda—the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety initiated an extensive inquiry culminating in a detailed report published in 2021.

Statistics

Annual data reflecting the Western Australian nickel mining industry:

Category	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Production (tonnes/year)	47,830	54,490	50,170	53,270	61,110	92,990	103,300	114,100	135,190	125,770
Production value (A$ billion)	0.586	0.596	0.490	0.472	0.459	0.897	1.097	1.051	1.146	0.877

Category	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Production (tonnes/year)	143,930	167,450	179,460	191,680	182,210	180,420	183,560	173,660	172,360	178,390
Production value (A$ billion)	1.806	2.239	2.002	2.458	3.031	3.503	3.815	8.059	5.142	2.997
Workforce	5,038	5,160	4,699	5,714	6,704	9,423	10,583	12,736	13,307	7,561

Category	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Production (tonnes/year)	180,150	192,450	208,540	228,300	232,673	183,320	175,752	157,564	163,374	154,383
Production value (A$ billion)	4.041	4.649	3.712	3.625	3.419	3.17	2.203	2.095	2.636	2.700
Workforce	7,266	9,168	8,798	7,664

2020 !style="width:60px"|2021 !style="width:60px"|2022 !style="width:60px"|2023 |- style="text-align:center;"	Production (tonnes/year) | 153,516 | 158,710 | 147,190 | 160,371 |- style="text-align:center;"	Production value (A$ billion) | 3.168 | 3.480 | 4.946 | 5.743 |- style="text-align:center;"	Full-time employees | 7,500 | 7,553 | 8,301 | 9,839 |- style="text-align:center;"	Total personnel on site | 7,285 | 7,345 | 8,294 | — | } Notes The data includes solely full-time staff. Prior to 2022, the Western Australian Mineral and Petroleum Statistics Digest aggregated both full-time employees and on-site workers; however, the 2022–23 edition exclusively presents figures for full-time employees. External links