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Events/Discovery · 1969

Windarra and Mount Keith nickel found

Discovery, 1969, Australia.

What happened

The State Library exhibition lists Windarra and Mount Keith as discovered in 1969 and Forrestania in 1971.1,2

Why it matters

They followed Kambalda in the nickel boom.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. WMC discovers nickel at Kambalda

    WMC drilling found the first large nickel deposit under gossans sampled in 1954.3

  2. Kambalda West townsite established

    A second townsite was set up 4 km west of the original.3

  3. Poseidon nickel share boom

    The RBA paper says the 1974 Senate Select Committee report documented abuses during the boom and recommended changes to the regulation of financial markets.2,4

  4. Windarra and Mount Keith nickel found

    They followed Kambalda in the nickel boom.1,2

Open the full timeline

Where next

People

Discovered byKen ShirleyNickel caps in banded iron formation set off a stock-market boom and bust.5

Mines

Led toMount KeithMount Keith was found in 1969, the same year as Windarra.1Located inMurrin MurrinA mine from the same area and mineral story: Murrin Murrin.1

Events

Led toPoseidon nickel share boomPoseidon shares peaked at 278 dollars on 13 February 1970 after drilling at Windarra.4Came out ofNickel sulphides found at KambaldaWindarra and Mount Keith followed Kambalda in the nickel boom.1

Places

Located inLavertonSee the place where this happened: Laverton.1

Sources

  1. Nickel (Mining and Energy Western Australia exhibition) State Library of Western Australia
  2. Laverton (item Q1002750), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Mining and Energy Western Australia: Nickel State Library of Western Australia
  4. Three Australian Asset-price Bubbles (J. Simon, 2003 conference paper) Reserve Bank of Australia
  5. Ken Shirley State Library of Western Australia

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Escondida Mine, Chile, NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)).