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Australia's nickel sulphide deposits: characteristics and new ideas for discovery

Created 16/10/2025

Updated 16/10/2025

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This keynote address was presented at the Australian Nickel Conference held in Perth, 13-14 October 2004. Nickel-sulphide deposits in Australia are mainly associated with Archaean komatiites and Archaean Proterozoic mafic intrusions, but some unusual Phanerozoic deposits occur in eastern Australia. The majority of Australia's nickel production (~80%) is derived from komatiite deposits in the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. The Eastern Goldfields Province of this craton hosts one of the greatest concentrations of Archaean komatiite-hosted nickel deposits in the world, several of which are world class (>1 Mt Ni). Exploration activities in Australia are currently focussed on mafic-ultramafic rocks in Late Archaean and Proterozoic provinces. Exploration has been stimulated by the discovery of new deposits (Flying Fox, Daybreak, Armstrong, Daltons, McEwen, Nebo-Babel), recognition of different styles of mineralisation (Avebury), and the protracted period of elevated nickel metal prices. There is considerable potential for finding new deposits associated with komatiites and mafic intrusions, particularly under shallow cover. Geoscience Australia has undertaken new research initiatives that define favourable mineralising elements, exploration strategies, and new nickel metallogenic provinces.

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Field Value
Title Australia's nickel sulphide deposits: characteristics and new ideas for discovery
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/21278851-7774-4d05-82e5-de98daee235e
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 22/04/2018
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Australia's nickel sulphide deposits: characteristics and new ideas for discovery". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/australias-nickel-sulphide-deposits-characteristics-and-new-ideas-for-discovery