[6] On the bases of a global nickel shortage, WMC immediately proceeded with the development of the mine and a shaft was sunk at the shore of Lake Lefroy.

A competition was held to name the new shaft, with the name "Silver Lake" chosen, suggested by Mary Norman, wife of the Services Officer.

[6] Further nickel discoveries in the area allowed for an expansion of the operation as well as the concentrator, which reached an annual capacity of 1.4 million tonnes by 1972.

In late 1987, nickel prices rebounded but production at Kambalda declined because of industrial actions,[7] lack of forward planning because of the need of cost savings and lower grades.

[6] Industrial action mainly evolved from the plan to permit seven-day around-the-clock mining, which the unions opposed but the state government supported.

Of great concern was seepage from the tailings into the ground water, which posed a direct thread to the near-by Lake Cooloongup.

[13] 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 to process ore from Mincor's w Cassini mine.

[16] In 2023, Andrew Forrest-backed Wyloo Metals took over Mincor Resources in a A$760 million deal, with the latter suffering from cash flow problems and being unsure as to whether it would be able repay its dept.

[1][2] Shortly afterwards, National Iron and Steel Mills (NISM) in Singapore informed Sims Consolidated Limited that one of their furnaces had been contaminated with caesium-137.

[1][2] The resident manager at Kambalda, Barry Paterson, was charged and fined A$100 in May 1979 over the incident for breaches of the Radiation Safety Act.

The incident however made national news initially and, again, when the issue became an international matter between the Australian and Singaporean governments in September 1979.

Both WMC and Sims lobbied the Australian government to permit the waste to be removed from Singapore to Western Australia, and permission was granted in 1981.

[1] Arranging shipping for the waste proved difficult and its potential arrival in Western Australia led to protests, strikes and demonstrations.

[1][21] The bulk carrier Cape Comorin subsequently was not allowed to dock in the Port of Melbourne until clearance of all radioactive contamination was established.