[Objective]The aim was to discuss the actinomycete biodiversity of iron-mine tailings by phylogenetic analysis of 12 typical isolates. [Method]The genomic DNAs were extracted by phenol-chloroform method; phylogeny analysis was carried out based on 16S rDNA PCR amplification and sequencing. [Result]The results showed that all the 12 strains belong to the genus Streptomyces sharing 98.7%-99.9% similarities with their nearest known neighbors. [Conclusion]Streptomyces is the dominant culturable actinomycete group of iron mine tailings,in which there are many potential novel species.