It is located 55 km south-east of Coober Pedy in South Australia and produced 1.8Mtpa of a unique coarse-grained magnetite-copper DSO (Direct Shipping Ore) product.

The product was mined and crushed on site before being trucked and railed to Port Adelaide, where it was then shipped to China.

[3] In July 2013, the Cairn Hill Mining Operation reached a milestone of 4,000,000 tonnes of iron ore exported.

[4] In November 2013, IMX investigated ways to extend the life of the mine by at least 12 to 15 months, before shifting focus to the Mount Woods Magnetite Project.

[2] Due to low iron ore prices, the Cairn Hill mine was closed in June 2014.