Geochemical data for 870 ore samples of 14 nickel sulphide (NiS) deposits from throughout the major Archaean Kambalda ore field, Western Australia, reveal highly heterogeneous Ni tenor (wt% Ni in 100 wt% sulphide) variation that is difficult to explain solely by magmatic processes. The Ni tenor values for the deposits range from 6.2 wt% Ni (Helmut deposit) to 19.7 wt% Ni (Carnilya Hill deposit), close to the range for within single deposits (9.7–19.3 wt% Ni). Contents of Ni and platinum-group elements (PGE) broadly increase with decreasing Fe and with increasing abundance of metamorphic pyrite + magnetite ± silicates. In turn, the abundance of the metamorphic phases appears to be complexly related to structural setting, metamorphic grade, alteration type, and proximity to felsic intrusion. Chondrite-normalised multi-element plots of deposit compositions reveal relative depletions in Au, As, Bi, and Te.