Dr E. (Ernie) Nickel

This mineral was named in honour of Dr Ernie Nickel for his outstanding contributions to research on the mineralogy and genesis of economic mineral deposits in Canada and Australia.

Ernie, a Canadian by birth, joined the Canadian Department of Mines and Technical Surveys (now CANMET) in 1953, and after a long and productive career in Canada moved to Australia joining CSIRO Mineralogy in Perth in 1971.

In CSIRO his research was focussed on the mineralogy of nickel sulphide deposits, then being developed in Western Australia, describing five new hydrated nickel sulphate and carbonate minerals. 

In 1974 he became Australia’s representative on the International Mineralogical Association’s Commission on New Minerals and Mineral names (CNMMN). He co-authored the MINERAL database.

Ernie retired from CSIRO in 1985 but continued working almost full-time for a further 24 years as an Honorary Fellow.

He contributed to the naming of 24 new minerals and published over 120 research papers and books.