Kalgoorlie's proximity to nickel deposits, its existing infrastructure and an available work force, gold mining in the area experiencing a downturn at the time, were the main arguments for building the smelter there.

[2] On 16 September, then-Premier of Western Australia, David Brand, announced the upcoming construction of the smelter, something WMC declined to confirm at the time, stating that negotiations about the location were still ongoing.

[2] The construction site was visited by the then-Premier of Western Australia, John Tonkin, on 2 July 1971 and the smelter was ready for commissioning in December 1972.

The old furnace was decommissioned on 8 September 1993 and the new constructed in its place in 70 days, officially opening on 15 December 1993 in the presence of the Western Australian premier Richard Court.

[6] BHP closed the smelter for four month from June 2008 to carry out repairs, thereby reducing annual nickel production in Western Australia by 20,000 tonnes.

[9] In 2021–22, BHP signed an agreement with renewable energy provider TransAlta to build a solar farm and a battery storage system in the Northern Goldfields, designed to power the Kalgoorlie smelter, the Kwinana refinery and the Kambalda concentrator, the later having been in care and maintenance since 2018 but being recommissioned in May 2022.

[10] The smelter underwent a lengthy shut down in late 2022 to conduct a A$7.5 million upgrade which negatively affected BHP's annual nickel production.

This decision is scheduled to be reviewed in February 2027 but BHP would continue to spend $450 million annually on its nickel operations to facilitate a potential restart.