Large fluctuations in the world nickel price[2] have seen mines close and reopen on several occasions.

Nickel mining is the sixth largest commodity sector in Western Australia with a value of $4.946 billion in 2021–22.

The only other significant Australian nickel production outside Western Australia is a refinery at Yabulu, Queensland which processes ore from New Caledonia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The price of nickel peaked at about £7,000 per pound in late 1969, driven by demand from the Vietnam War and the major Canadian producer, Inco (now Vale Canada), being embroiled in industrial action, creating a supply shortage.

In November 1969, a prospector working for Poseidon NL made a promising nickel discovery at Mount Windara near Laverton.

Production figures published by the company at the end of 2008 are for the whole Nickel West Operations and not broken down to individual mines.

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.

[46] Because of local concern over the state of the abandoned tailings storage facility and evaporation ponds at Bulong, the mining lease having expired in 2013, and its impact on near-by Lake Yindarlgooda, the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety commissioned an investigation which resulted in a 900-page report published in 2021.