mining town, southern Western Australia. It lies 37 miles (60 km) south of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Gold was mined there from 1896 to 1906, but the site's modern importance dates from 1966, when deposits of high-grade nickel were discovered in the vicinity. The nickel ores are smelted at Kalgoorlie-Boulder, refined at Kwinana (south of Perth), or carried southward to the port of Esperance for shipment. A plant built on the shore of dry Lake Lefroy, 2 miles (3 km) northeast of Kambalda, produces nickel concentrates, which also contain copper, cobalt, palladium, and platinum. A model community has been constructed at Kambalda to house mine workers. Declining international nickel prices caused several mines and the concentration plant to close in the late 1990s. However, the market subsequently rebounded, and widespread nickel prospecting and mining resumed.Pop. (2001) Kambalda West, urban centre, 2,850.