Terri Irwin to fight mine application

Australia Zoo's Terri Irwin says she will fight a move to mine an environmentally sensitive area dedicated to her late husband.

The 135,000 hectare Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula was purchased by the federal government as a tribute to Steve Irwin following his death in 2006.

The Irwin family runs the reserve, but now mining company Cape Alumina has lodged mining lease applications to mine bauxite within it.

Ms Irwin said should would take her fight against the mining plans to court.

"Setting aside this land will not break the bank for Cape Alumina and yet it would make such a huge difference environmentally," she told ABC Radio on Monday.

"So we're going to plead our case and I can't imagine the situation couldn't be resolved because it's just a kind of a lay-down misere that this particular area needs to be protected."

She said the area was home to rare and threatened plant and animal species that needed to be protected.

"We have found a number of plant species which are very vulnerable, but the surprising thing is, there have been some four plant species which have never been recorded on western Cape York," she said.

"That's just remarkable and of course there's rare bird species, the spear-tooth shark, sawfish, and estuarine crocodiles."