Geologically classified as a "massive sulfide ore deposit", the site was mined for iron, silver, gold, copper, zinc, quartz, and pyrite intermittently from the 1860s until 1963.

[1] The first discovery of valuable mineral deposits at Iron Mountain was by Thomas Jefferson Harrison, Robert Lyon, and Stephan Alozo Meek in 1852.

In 2000, the government reached a settlement with Aventis CropScience (now part of Bayer), for the long-term funding of the cleanup efforts.

This sulfuric acid runs through the mountain and leaches out copper, cadmium, zinc, and other heavy metals.

On occasion, uncontrolled spills and excessive waste releases have occurred when Spring Creek Reservoir reached capacity.

The mine opening contains huge stalactite-stalagmite structures that span from floor to ceiling and are composed of rhomboclase and other iron sulfate minerals.

Since the bacteria cannot be isolated and cultured, scientists have performed community sequencing of the DNA of the five dominant species at once, assembling the genomes afterwards.