Mount Jackson Iron Ore Mine, Mount Jackson Goldfield, Yilgarn Shire, Western Australia, Australiai

Regional Level Types
Mount Jackson Iron Ore Mine	Mine
Mount Jackson Goldfield	Ore Field
Yilgarn Shire	Shire
Western Australia	State
Australia	Country

The Mount Jackson Iron Ore Mine is 50 kilometres north north-west of Koolyanobbing, and 27 kilometres south of the Windarling iron ore mine. All three locations contain iron ore mines, operated by Cliffs Natural Resources, who cart the ore by haul truck along a private mine road to Koolyanobbing. Here the ore is railed to the port of Esperance.

The mine is located on the east-west trending Mount Jackson Range. Mt Jackson itself rises to 617 metres. Access is not available to the public, but the Bullfinch-Evanston Road passes close to the mine, with the J2 and J3 pits east, and J1 pit west of the road.

Portman Mining began mining at Mount Jackson when it acquired 605 ha for the extraction of iron ore in 2003. Cliffs Resources took over the company late 2008.

The J3 pit is the most eastern Pit, then J2 about 1 kilometre east of the above named road, and finally J1 about 5 kilometres west of the road. J1 West is an elongated pit with J1 East a smaller round pit adjoined by a saddle. J1 West is 170 metres deep and J1 East 95 metres deep. Combined the deposit contains about 30.1 Mt of iron ore. The J2 and J3 pits have a combined resource of 33 Mt. The geology is said to be similar to Koolyanobbing, and more information regarding this can be found under this Mindat heading.

The mine accesses a banded iron formation containing rare flora and fauna. This situation is common for iron ore mines in the central portions of Western Australia. These other locations have presented the environmental impact these mines create, and in the spirit of balance, the following information provides an indication of the money, time and effort mining companies here commit to the environment.

A rare species of trap-door spider called A. Castellum have been found on these isolated banded iron formation hills. The spiders construct deep burrows for protection against the arid weather, can live for up to 30 years, and reach sexual maturity after 6 years. A network of webs extend from the trap door, which act as sensors. When a bug trips a strand of silk the spider rushes out to grab its prey. The spiders live most of their lives in the burrow, while the males only venture out to seek a mate.

An intensive study sponsored by Cliffs Natural Resources across Western Australia, found the spider to be far more common than originally thought. It has since been taken off the rare species list. The company spends 0.5 million A$ a year on spider research. There is some evidence the spider may re-establish in disturbed areas, and is not put off by being close to noise and vibration from an active mine pit.

It undertook the first ever attempt at spider translocation for the species. This experiment was at their Koolyanobbing mine, where 13 spiders were located in a planned mining area. They were dug out of their burrow, and one died during this process. Spiders are un-sociable creatures, and the remaining 12 rather grumpy spiders were transferred to a relocation pen. Artificial burrows had been created for them, dampened with water to stabilize the burrow walls and increase humidity, and protected by plastic tree collars. Five spiders survived and re-established. It had limited success, but more research should increase the numbers that survive.

The Mount Jackson Range also contains several other rare animals and plants including a small scrappy plant called Tetratheca paynterae, found only growing in rock crevices in the range. Thanks to Cliffs Resources this unassuming plant is the most intensively studied non commercial native plant in Australia. There were concerns dust from the mine and roads would kill off plants, but it has been discovered the amount of rainfall is the major contributing factor to its success. The plant has been successfully propagated and a seed bank established.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

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