The document summarizes the discovery of the Nova-Bollinger magmatic nickel-copper sulfide deposits in Western Australia by Sirius Resources NL, a small junior exploration company. The deposits were found in 2012 within stacked mafic sills intruding sedimentary rocks. Previous explorers had recognized some prospectivity for nickel in the region but it was largely unexplored. Sirius used systematic regional aeromagnetic surveys, soil geochemistry, shallow drilling, and ground electromagnetic surveys to methodically define and drill discrete targets matching their model of magmatic nickel deposits. The discovery required the right combination of motive, means, and opportunity coming together over nearly 50 years through the efforts of previous explorers and companies as well as

1. ©2014 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.
Special Publication 18, pp. 301–320
Chapter 15
Motive, Means, and Opportunity: Key Factors in the Discovery of the
Nova-Bollinger Magmatic Nickel-Copper Sulfide Deposits in Western Australia
Mark Bennett,† Malcolm Gollan, Markus Staubmann, and John Bartlett
Sirius Resources NL, P.O. Box 1011, Balcatta, Western Australia 6914, Australia
Abstract
The Nova-Bollinger deposit is a large nickel-copper sulfide deposit discovered in 2012 by a junior Australian
exploration company, Sirius Resources. The deposit is interpreted to represent a magmatic sulfide accumula-
tion within several stacked mafic sills that intruded a sequence of sedimentary rocks, which has been subse-
quently recrystallized and variably deformed by lower granulite facies metamorphism. The deposit is located
in the Albany-Fraser orogen of Western Australia—a Proterozoic belt broadly similar to the Circum-Superior
belt in North America, which hosts the Thompson and Raglan nickel mining camps. Although some previous
explorers had recognized the similarity between these areas and also undertaken limited exploration for nickel,
the prospectivity of the Albany-Fraser orogen for magmatic nickel deposits was largely unrecognized and the
area was virtually unexplored prior to the involvement of Sirius.
The discovery is somewhat unusual because it is a blind, grassroots discovery made in what was previously
assumed to be an unendowed geologic terrane by a small company with a small exploration budget. It is also
unusual because the style of deposit discovered was exactly that which was originally targeted. The case study
of the discovery includes the geologic concept, the exploration methods, and the key circumstances that led
to the discovery of Nova-Bollinger. In one sense the discovery represents a textbook example of the deliberate
and successful application of good geologic science and appropriate exploration methodology, but in another
sense it was the culmination of numerous key decisions and seemingly unrelated events that spanned a period
of nearly fifty years that created the necessary building blocks for the ultimate success. These building blocks
include the involvement of a variety of other elements, including the efforts of previous mining companies, an
accident by NASA, the persistence of a wealthy Australian prospector, and the initiative of the Government and
Geological Survey of Western Australia.
In terms of process, the deposit was discovered by systematically using various methods that were tailored to
the target style and the nature of the terrane, and also appropriate to the scale and stage of exploration. These
comprised regional aeromagnetics for target definition, soil geochemistry for target verification and prioritiza-
tion, shallow reconnaissance drilling for defining the source of soil anomalies, ground electromagnetic geo-
physics for defining discrete drill targets, and finally drilling. It is critical to also evaluate how information and
misinformation can potentially affect the exploration process at every step, and how entirely extrinsic factors
such as timing and luck can determine the outcome of the process. Of particular interest in the case of the Nova-
Bollinger discovery is insight into how junior explorers operate compared to the bigger companies, what they
have to do to be effective explorers, how they contribute to the overall well-being of the resources sector, and
how their success is influenced by the degree to which three factors coincide—motive, means, and opportunity.
† Corresponding author: e-mail, mark.bennett@siriusresources.com.au