Mines and Energy South Australia, as part of its contribution to the South Australian Steel and Energy Project, has defined an iron ore resource in the Coober Pedy region. Extensive ground magnetic, gravity and drilling programs identified four prospect areas - Hawks Nest, Giffen Well, Peculiar Knob and Sequoia - all in close proximity to the Stuart Highway and the Tarcoola - Alice Springs Railway. Inferred or Indicated Resources have been calulated for a total of ten deposits (seven at Hawks Nest) of BIF (banded iron formation), hosted by Archaean to Palaeoproterozoic basement and overlain by up to 20 m thickness of Mesozoic and/or Cainozoic sediments. Three types of iron deposits were encountered: - Low grade magnetite-BIF with total Inferred Resources of over 800 Mt, the largest of which is the Kestrel deposit at Hawks Nest, with an Indicated Resource of 260 Mt at 36.4% Fe. Beneficiation tests carried out on samples of this type of BIF indicate that a high grade iron concentrate (>64% Fe) with very low levels of alumina and phosphorus may be readily produced. - High grade magnetite horizons (up to 69% Fe) of unknown lateral extent, but up to 150 m wide, existing within the low grade magnetite - BIF deposits of Kestrel and Kite at Hawks Nest. - High grade haematite, of which the largest deposit is at Peculiar Knob, with an Inferred Resource of 14 Mt at 63.2% Fe of massive, coarse grained specular haematite. As a high priority, further drilling is recommended at Hawks Nest to define a high grade magnetite resource.