Kambalda East is a town in the
Goldfields-Esperance region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, located in the
Shire of Coolgardie
The Shire of Coolgardie is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, lying roughly west and south of the city of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Kalgoorlie. Th ...
local government area. It forms part of the broader
Kambalda
Kambalda is a small mining town about from the mining city of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, within the Goldfields. It is split into two townsites apart, Kambalda East and Kambalda West; and is located on the western edge of a giant salt ...
township, which is formally divided into Kambalda East and
Kambalda West. Kambalda East recorded a population of 802 at the .
An early mining settlement named Kambalda (originally Red Hill) existed on the same site as the current Kambalda East in the 1890s and 1900s.
The modern town of Kambalda East was originally built as a closed
company town
A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
by
WMC Resources in 1967 following commencement of
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
mining in 1966.
It was laid out in a grid pattern on the location of the original, long-gone Kambalda townsite, with streets and lots completely redrawn rather than follow the original layout. It had 300 residents by August 1967. It was known just as Kambalda until 1969, when the discovery of nickel reserves west of the township saw plans for further town expansion halted and a second townsite,
Kambalda West, established to the west, with the town's commercial centre established there instead.
During its period as a company town, WMC Resources built and owned all the housing, built all the town's community facilities, and was responsible for provision of essential services; it was described as having "dominated" the town. Housing in Kambalda East was "not as well constructed or as appealing" as that at newer Kambalda West, with some homes being "transportables". Early facilities were centred on Kambalda East: a workers' club, the Kambalda Club, opened in 1967, Kambalda Primary School opened in 1968, and Kambalda Football Club played their first match in 1969. (The football club would relocate to a new oval at Kambalda West in 1971.) WMC Resources began selling their company housing to workers from 1986, with town services eventually transitioned to state and local government control when WMC Resources began exiting Kambalda in the 2000s.
Kambalda East is often described as "residential-industrial" in nature, compared to "residential-commercial" Kambalda West.
References
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Goldfields-Esperance