We present results from the analysis of high-resolution spectra obtained with the Keck HIRES spectrograph for a sample of 17 candidate extremely metal-poor ( EMP ) stars originally selected from commissioning data obtained with the SkyMapper telescope .
Fourteen of the stars have not been observed previously at high dispersion .
Three have [ Fe/H ] \leq - 3.0 while the remainder , with two more metal-rich exceptions , have - 3.0 \leq [ Fe/H ] \leq - 2.0 dex .
Apart from Fe , we also derive abundances for the elements C , N , Na , Mg , Al , Si , Ca , Sc , Ti , Cr , Mn , Co , Ni , and Zn , and for n -capture elements Sr , Ba , and Eu .
None of the current sample of stars is found to be carbon-rich .
In general our chemical abundances follow previous trends found in the literature , although we note that two of the most metal-poor stars show very low [ Ba/Fe ] ( \sim - 1.7 ) coupled with low [ Sr/Ba ] ( \sim - 0.3 ) .
Such stars are relatively rare in the Galactic halo .
One further star , and possibly two others , meet the criteria for classification as a r -I star .
This study , together with that of Jacobson et al .
( 2015 ) , completes the outcomes of the SkyMapper commissioning data survey for EMP stars .