Windarra Minesite Lookout

Mt Windarra overlooks the site of the nickel mine that had its birth through the extraordinary global stock market frenzy associated with the exploration company Poseidon NL (No Liability).

 

This was in 1969-70, marking the pinnacle of Western Australia’s famed ‘nickel boom’ that has, through dramatic highs and lows, endured to this day. It was through Poseidon NL that thousands of ordinary ‘mum and dad’ Australians were first tempted to ‘play’ the stock market.  At the time, most lost out, but a select few made fortunes of considerable proportions. Some think of it as the Poseidon ‘Mis-adventure’ yet it represented a watershed moment in the history of Australia’s enduring love affair with investing in precious, semi-precious, and base metals.

The Poseidon story is an extraordinary tale.  In September 1969, an Adelaide-based exploration company Poseidon NL announced the discovery a rich nickel lode in WA’s remote goldfields. For canny early investors (read ‘inside traders’), what followed was a thrilling roller-coaster ride, with shares rocketing through the stratosphere within a matter of weeks. But from a breathtaking high of $280, an extraordinary series of revelations saw the trading price plummet with equal speed.

Thanks to the sensational revelations of the post-crash inquiry by the Rae Senate Select Committee, the ‘cowboy’ miners and share traders would be ‘reined in’, with new stock market regulations leading to the establishment of the Australian Companies and Securities Commission and a single Australian Stock Exchange – the ASX. Gambling in stocks would never be quite the same again.