Address: Russia, Yakutia
Open: 1955
Start of production: 1957
End of production: year 2001
Depth: 525 m
Diameter: 1.2 km
Coordinates: 62°31"36.7"N 113°59"31.8"E
Short description
In the city of Mirny, in Yakutia, there is one of the world's largest diamond quarries - the Mir kimberlite pipe. Helicopters do not fly over the diamond-bearing mine: a giant funnel 525 meters deep and more than 1 kilometer in diameter, initiating updrafts, sucks in aircraft.
The “Mir” quarry was included in the list of candidates for the “Seven Wonders of Russia” competition, organized with the participation of the Izvestia newspaper, the Rossiya TV channel and the Mayak radio station. The mine was not awarded the title of winner, but this does not detract from its significance. After all it was here that, more than 50 years ago, industrial diamond mining began for the first time in Russian history.
“We lit a pipe of peace, the tobacco is excellent,” - this was a secret radiogram sent by Soviet geologists to Moscow in 1955, reporting the discovery of a rich diamond deposit. The “snuff” in the pipe really turned out to be quite good: more than 80% of all diamonds mined in this mine weighed 5 carats each (1 gram).
The city of Mirny is the diamond heart of Russia
More recently, these lands, where reigns permafrost, no human foot has stepped on it. And this is not surprising: according to absolute value minimum temperature (frosts can reach -70 °C) Yakutia has no equal regions in the entire Northern Hemisphere. The diamond deposit was a discovery of extreme importance. The diamond industry was designed to double the economic potential of the Soviet Union.
In particular, Nikita Khrushchev relatively strategic importance Diamonds made the following statement: “It’s time for the capitalist aggressors to show “Kuzka’s mother”; soon our Motherland will take a leading position in the international foreign exchange market, having developed new diamond deposits in Yakutia for the speedy creation of the material and technical base of communism in the USSR.” In 1957, the working village of Mirny grew up near the diamond-bearing vein, which received the status of a city in 1959. To get here, the first convoys of trucks covered 2,800 kilometers of off-road terrain.
Already in the 1960s, the Soviet Union was producing more than $1 billion worth of diamonds annually. One can only be amazed at how much effort has been put into developing the quarry: at many meters deep, aggressive waters saturated with methane, hydrogen sulfide and oil arrive at a speed of 3,500 cubic meters per day, and if a unique grout curtain had not been created, the mine would inevitably have been flooded. Years passed, and thanks to the work of workers and builders, Mirny from a tiny village turned into the center of the Russian diamond industry, a modern city with 9-story buildings and asphalt roads.
Ore mining in the Mir quarry ceased in 2001, and the bottom of the mine was mothballed in preparation for mining the upper underground horizons. Geologists have discovered that the depth of diamonds exceeds 1 kilometer, and extracting them from the mine using an open pit method is unprofitable. Today, the headquarters of the ALROSA company, which owns 75% of the diamonds mined in Yakutia, is located in Mirny. The largest diamond ever mined in Russia was found in the Mir kimberlite pipe on the eve of 1981. It weighs 342.5 carats (68.5 grams) and bears the party name - “26th Congress of the CPSU”.
Diamond quarry "World" - the force of attraction of the abyss
As befits any miracle, there are legends about the Mir diamond mine. They say that when you are at the bottom, you feel dizzy, but when you go up, you experience euphoria. Looking like a bottomless abyss, the mine beckons and hypnotizes. Some people dream of jumping to the bottom of a quarry with a parachute. There is a legend about the origin of the Yakut deposits.
Society, 23 Sep 2017, 10:25
ALROSA management will have their salaries reduced after the tragedy at the Mir mine ... Peaceful, a representative of a diamond mining holding told RBC. The final causes of flooding on mine « World"have not been established, added the head of the Russian Ministry of Finance, chairman of the supervisory board... analysis of the causes and actions to eliminate the consequences of the accident at mine. Accident on mine « World"will affect the overall volume of diamond production, noted the Chairman of the Supervisory Board... Rescuers have stopped searching for missing miners at the Mir mine ...Search and rescue work at emergency mine « World"in Yakutia were stopped due to the threat of further flooding. Rescuers admitted ... the eight missing miners are no longer alive. Continuation of the rescue operation at mine « World» was considered impossible due to the threat of mine flooding. This is stated...material support will be paid in full. Water breakthrough on mine « World"in Yakutia occurred on August 4. At the time of the accident underground... ALROSA will pay 14 million rubles. to the relatives of the missing miners at the Mir mine ...material assistance to the relatives of miners who went missing in the accident mine « World" This was said in a statement. By decision of the council, the company... provided financial assistance to the relatives of eight people injured in an underground mine accident. mine « World» Mirny Mining and Processing Plant AK ALROSA (PJSC) 08/04/2017 ... was adopted unanimously. Accident on mine « World"in Yakutia occurred on August 4. Water broke through to underground horizons mine where was he at that moment... ALROSA reported on the search and rescue operation at the Mir mine ... the use of aviation. "We lit a pipe peace": how they live in the diamond capital of Russia on August 15 rescue operation on mine « World"at minus 310 m... in words, thus at mine trying to hide numerous safety violations. ALROSA denied this information. Underground mine « World"was put into operation in 2009. From 1957 to 2001, diamonds from the kimberlite pipe " World» were mined open... ALROSA will evaluate safety at all of the company’s mines in August ... engineer at the Yakutniproalmaz Institute. “Final and complete analysis of the causes of the accident at mine « World"should be prepared by the Rostechnadzor commission. However, we are planning not to be held since May of this year. As a result of a water breakthrough on mine « World“In the city of Mirny in Yakutia, 142 were evacuated on August 4... a search for them is underway. Earlier, on August 15, rescuers stopped searching for mine « World» at minus 310 m due to flooding. There's supposedly... Rescuers stopped searching for four miners at the Mir mine ... on mine « World» was stopped due to flooding. There, according to ALROSA, four of the eight trapped miners remained. Rescuers stopped the search operation at mine « World... set up a rescue base at a depth of 210 m. 4 August on mine « World"there was a water breakthrough, as a result of which two horizons were flooded... 143, another eight have since remained blocked. Accidents on mine « World» Pavel Kazarnovsky Maria Kokoreva Sergey Vitko The quarry at the Mir mine in Yakutia was cleared of water ... Chalice quarry at the diamond mine « World"We managed to free it from the water, the ALROSA press service told RBC. ... . “The fate of eight miners who have been in the mine workings since the flooding mine « World“August 4 remains unknown,” the company’s press service added... these accusations. "We lit a pipe peace": how they live in the diamond capital of Russia Water breakthrough from a quarry into a mine mine « World», company-owned ALROSA, something happened... The Ministry of Emergency Situations announced a deterioration in the situation due to rising water at the Mir mine ... On mine « World“The hydrological situation in Yakutia is becoming more complicated; water continues to flow into the mine. ... we continue to collect people,” said the deputy head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. August 4th in the mine mine « World“There was a water breakthrough from the quarry, 151 people were underground... a rescue operation, 143 miners were saved, a search is underway for the remaining eight. Mine owned by ALROSA. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on August 7... ALROSA hired a helicopter for rescue work at the Mir mine ... mine « World"in Yakutia. The company showed a video of its use. The footage shows how a helicopter with a cargo attached to it flies up to the flooded mine... to the YakutiaMedia news agency. An accident involving water breaking into a mine occurred at mine « World» August 4th. 143 miners managed to get to the surface. The remaining eight... added that the inspection was planned and not related to the accident at mine « World" Vice President and Financial Director of ALROSA Igor Kulichik August 9... The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case regarding flooding at the Yakut Mir mine ... Yakutia Investigative Committee (IC) opened a criminal case about the flooding of a diamond mine mine « World» ALROSA company. The press service of the department reports this. A case has been opened... Three workers are blocked at 310th Horizon. Rescuers in this part mine The rock mass is loaded using two loading machines. Head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations... where the mine is located " World" ALROSA President Sergei Ivanov said that by August 19 they will review the production plan for mine due to...The head of ALROSA announced the search for nine miners at the flooded mine ... On a flooded diamond mine « World» ALROSA rescuers in Yakutia are looking for nine miners. About it... . Ivanov Jr. clarified that at the time of the flooding, he was on shift mine there were 151 people. Of these, nine remained at preparatory work... it continues, the head of the diamond mining holding noted. In the flooded mine"Alrosa" 9 people remain in the mine mine « World ALROSA water broke on August 4th. Initially...
Putin was informed of an accident at a diamond mine in Yakutia ...diamond mine « World"in Yakutia. TASS reports this with reference to the press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov. Accident at the diamond mine mine « World» companies... . Rescuers established contact with 130 miners. The fate of the 18 stuck in mine not yet known. A TASS source reported that the mine was hit near... Vladimir Puchkov flew to Yakutia to coordinate rescue efforts at mine. ALROSA decided to evacuate 150 people from the mine due to a water breakthrough ... mine rescue units of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. No casualties reported in the diamond mine mine « World“In Yakutia, owned by the ALROSA company, there was a water breakthrough from a quarry... that about 200 thousand cubic meters of water got into the mine. On mine « World» Rostechnadzor employees have arrived to take part in the creation of an investigation commission... . The Yakut prosecutor's office also began an investigation. Accidents on mine « World» Amid reports of flooding in mine ALROSA shares began to fall in price: their quotes on...In Yakutia, near the city of Mirny, there is the largest diamond quarry in the world by total volume - the Mir kimberlite pipe (the city of Mirny appeared after the discovery of the pipe and was named in its honor).
The quarry has a depth of 525 meters and a diameter of 1.2 kilometers.
What is kimberlite?
The formation of a kimberlite pipe occurs during a volcanic eruption, when gases from the bowels of the earth burst out through the earth's crust. The shape of such a tube resembles a funnel or glass. A volcanic explosion removes kimberlite, a rock that sometimes contains diamonds, from the depths of the Earth. The breed is named after the city of Kimberley in South Africa, where an 85-carat (16.7 gram) diamond was found in 1871, sparking the Diamond Rush.
On June 13, 1955, geologists searching for a kimberlite pipe in Yakutia saw a tall larch tree whose roots had been exposed by a landslide. The fox dug a deep hole under it. Based on the characteristic bluish color of the soil scattered by the fox, geologists realized that it was kimberlite. A coded radiogram was immediately sent to Moscow: “We lit a peace pipe, the tobacco is excellent”. Soon after 2800 km. off-road, convoys of vehicles flocked to the site of the discovery of the kimberlite pipe. The working village of Mirny grew up around the diamond deposit; now it is a city with a population of about 36 thousand people.
The development of the field took place in extremely difficult climatic conditions. To break through the permafrost, it had to be blown up with dynamite.
In the 1960s, 2 kg were already produced here. diamonds per year, of which 20% were of jewelry quality and, after cutting and turning into diamonds, could be supplied to a jewelry salon. The remaining 80% of diamonds were used for industrial purposes.
The South African company De Beers was concerned about the rapid development of Mir, which was forced to buy Soviet diamonds in order to control prices on the world market. The management of De Beers agreed on the arrival of its delegation in Mirny. The leadership of the USSR agreed to this on the condition that Soviet specialists would visit diamond quarries in South Africa.
A De Beers delegation arrived in Moscow in 1976 to fly to Mirny, but the South African guests were deliberately delayed by endless meetings and banquets in Moscow, so when the delegation finally reached Mirny, they had only 20 minutes to inspect the quarry.
However, South African experts were still amazed by what they saw, for example, by the fact that the Russians did not use water when processing ore. Although this is understandable: after all, 7 months a year in Mirny there is sub-zero temperature and therefore the use of water is simply impossible.
Between 1957 and 2001, the Mir quarry produced $17 billion worth of diamonds. Over the years, the quarry expanded so much that trucks had to travel 8 km along a spiral road. from bottom to surface.
The Russian company ALROSA, which owns the Mir quarry, stopped open-pit ore mining in 2001 because this method has become dangerous and ineffective. Scientists have found that diamonds lie at a depth of more than 1 km, and at such a depth, it is not a quarry that is suitable for mining, but an underground mine, which, according to the plan, will reach its design capacity of one million tons of ore per year already in 2012. In total, the development of the field is planned for another 34 years.
By the way, on the official website of Alrosa, there is a very impressive video about how diamonds are mined. Here it is:
Fun fact: Helicopters are strictly prohibited from flying over the quarry, because a huge funnel sucks aircraft into itself. The high walls of the quarry are fraught with danger not only for helicopters: there is a threat of landslides, and one day the quarry may swallow the surrounding, including built-up, areas.
Peaceful is a stunning example of human greed. At some point, people decided that diamonds were beautiful, status-bearing, expensive and rich. There is no logical explanation why a diamond is better than other stones, or why one should hang stones on oneself at all. The natives hung their own bones and feathers, modern people hanging stones. OK. And for the sake of these stones, a man took and devastated the earth. He destroyed nature and polluted rivers.
The city of Mirny in Yakutia is considered the diamond capital of Russia. Actually, he stands on the very edge of a giant hole in the ground. When you fly up, it takes your breath away. It is amazing, of course, what a person is capable of.
01. Alrosa is in charge here. Half the population works for a company in one way or another. "Alrosa" is not only mines, but also its own airline that transports people from Moscow to Mirny. At the airport there are IL-76s disassembled for spare parts. By the way, Alrosa also carries passengers on the legendary Tu-134 and Tu-154! So, a unique chance to ride a legend for the price of a regular ticket. 
02. Baggage is issued in a separate hangar. 
04. The Mir kimberlite pipe was discovered in 1955. Until 2001, diamond ore was mined in an open pit, and then went underground. In 2009, the Mir underground mine was opened. 
05. Gorud is literally on the edge of the abyss! 
06. On August 4, 2017, an accident occurred there: water broke into the mine from the bowl of the exhausted quarry. At that moment there were 151 people in the mine. 142 miners were evacuated immediately, one was rescued the next day. Eight people were never found and died. 
07. Since then, the mine has been mothballed; diamond mining here will resume no earlier than 2022. 
08. Since the tube is not working now, I wonder what will happen to it next. Before us is one of the most incredible holes on the planet (depth 535 meters, diameter 1.2 km), it can be seen from space, but how to use it now? Maybe we should make a park here? A giant bungee jump? Ski resort? 
09. It seems to me that if you come up with something incredible, Mirny could become an important tourist spot on the planet. People go to look at the Grand Canyon, so why don't they go to look at a hole in the ground? 
In 2009, Moscow architect Nikolai Lyutomsky proposed the concept of an “eco-city” under a dome. 
Photo: AB ELIS
That is, to actually turn the quarry into such a closed system. 
Photo: AB ELIS
But I’m not sure that this is a project that can be realized, and not just an artist’s fantasy. 
Photo: AB ELIS
Photo: AB ELIS
10. In addition, Alrosa did not seem to be planning to finally stop diamond mining in Mirny. In any case, the quarry itself is not currently in use and will not be used again. 
11. Previously Observation deck was made from the base of an excavator, but is now closed due to the threat of collapse. 
12. Small Belazs are coming from a neighboring quarry. 
13. Cheerful Putin in the Alrosa office 
14. This is what rough diamonds look like! There is a sorting center in Mirny. 
15. There are 14 million dollars on the table in front of me - there are 21,000 carats of diamonds. 
16. Men don't work well! 
17. Mirny itself is small, only a few dozen panel houses. Actually, thanks to the diamond quarry, it appeared. A settlement emerged in 1955, and a few years later it was given the status of a city. During the first 10-12 years of its existence, the population of Mirny grew 4 times. By the way, the city was not built according to a general plan, but grew chaotically. Most of The population lives in 4-, 5- and 9-story buildings built in the 1970s and 1980s. 
18. Leningrad Avenue, the main street of the city. 
19. Alrosa is building new houses for employees. In addition, they subsidize various social facilities. 
20. Motto! 
A couple of years ago, a city park was landscaped in Mirny...
“As the press service of the administration of the Municipal Municipality “Mirny City” reported, in the summer, on the initiative of the head of the city Alexander Basyrov, active improvement of the city park of culture and recreation began. During the short northern summer, the park began to sparkle with new colors. It was illuminated, decorative street lamps were installed, and it was paved with asphalt. "alleys and sidewalks, paths were concreted. For little townspeople, bright children's play complexes with the additional installation of carousels, balance beams and swings appeared."
In winter, again, little is clear here, but you can already appreciate the level of “bright gaming complexes”.
22. Road to the stop. Although the snow is not removed in Mirny, the city is very clean. However, this often happens in cities where there is a constant “minus” in winter. I even envy those who live in the north. Imagine, you can walk around in perfectly clean shoes all winter! 
23. The stop is not really equipped. 
24. But there is a hookah bar here! This is the first time I've seen a hookah bar at a bus stop. Well, some make warm pens, like in Astana, and others make hookah bars. 
25. Recently, Alrosa has been purchasing gas buses. As I understand it, this is a corporate bus for staff, not a city bus. 
26. In Mirny itself there are three bus routes; in winter and summer they operate on different schedules. 
27. Mirny Housing Enterprise LLC (MPZHH) is pursuing debtors) 
28. What do we have in terms of import substitution? 
29. The Soviet coat of arms still hangs on the city administration building. 
30. The best hotel in the city. Regular Soviet 3 stars cost 12,000 per day. 
31. The library building, built in 1984, was ruined by European-quality renovation. 
32. What would a Russian city be without microloans! It seems that Putin ordered to deal with all these microfinance organizations, but while everyone is working... They do not obey the tsar! 
33. What makes me happy about such evacuation schemes is their simplicity and accessibility. 
34. In winter the city is very clean! Even the benches are being cleaned. 
35.
36. Few people know that Mirny can boast of the smallest Ikea store in the world. In fact, these are just points for issuing orders, and they have nothing to do with Ikea itself. 
37. In 2015, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Mirny, Alrosa opened the Lukomorye kindergarten for 240 places. Kindergarten, by the way, municipal, and not just for children of employees. Although in Mirny it’s about the same thing) 
38. Playgrounds are poor. It’s good that they were not paid for from the city budget. 
39. There is a constant Yakut carpet on the stairs. 
40.
41. Many people wear high boots. A pair of good high boots costs 30-40 thousand rubles! But they are very warm. It’s hard in the north without high boots. 
42. Security 
43.
44. Shkonki 
45. Orientations 
46. The staircase to every public institution, be it a clinic or a temple, will be covered with carpet. 
47. Why? Because all stairs are lined with slippery tiles, which are usually used in interiors. We have to throw a carpet on top so that people don’t get hurt. For some reason, it’s not possible to do it wisely and immediately apply a non-slip coating. 
48. Yard-parking. 
49. Megaramp. By the way, in Yakutia, most buildings are raised on stilts due to permafrost, so it is impossible to make entrances to the ground level here. For what? So that the heat of the house does not melt the earth and the foundation does not float. 
50. Everyone does as they please with balconies. There is no single insulation. 
51.
52.
53. The pedestrian crossing is not equipped in any way. 
54. Old housing stock 
55. These are just the first houses of the village. 
56. Unlike the barracks of the 30s, these look relatively intact. 
57.
58. Children's playground. Yes, even the barracks have new playgrounds here. 
59. One of the houses was renovated. 
60. The sculpture "Three Swords" on the Square of the 30th Anniversary of the Victory By the way, " Eternal flame“There is no gas connection here, so they only light it on holidays. 
61. In Russia there are not many monuments to the ghoul and bloodsucker Stalin, but one of them, unfortunately, stands in Mirny. It says "From Veterans of the Great Patriotic War and grateful descendants." 
62. By the way, Alrosa is led by Sergei Ivanov, the son of that same Sergei Ivanov. 
63. The building of the Mirny airport looks like the entrance to some factory. 
64. Airport, top view. 
65.
66. The mines begin immediately near the airport. In general, everything is very close here. 
67. Cool Soviet mosaic. Unfortunately, today barbarians throughout the country are destroying them. 
68. The interior of the airport terminal is decorated with a metal bas-relief. 
69. Waiting room. The greenery in the tubs reminds us of the Scoop. 
70. Buffet too. Actually, very nice. There are almost no such airports left; everything has been reconstructed. Those nostalgic for the USSR will be pleased to fly to Mirny and see all this. 
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Within the Yakut city of Mirny there is a quarry that is considered one of the wonders not only of Russia, but, perhaps, of the whole world - the legendary Mir kimberlite pipe. In 2017, after a terrible accident, the mine was mothballed and the period for its restoration was set: five to seven years. The work was discussed at a press conference of the Alrosa company, which was held with the participation of Rostechnadzor on April 27. In the meantime, while experts are deciding how to revive Mir, let’s remember the history of the mine, which has been mined for more than half a century.
“The fox dug a deep hole...”
“A tall larch grew on the slope, a landslide exposed its roots, and the fox dug a deep hole under them. The evening sun illuminated the roots of the tree, making visible from afar the bluish rock scattered around, among which red pyrope flared up and flared up like a living drop of blood...” - so poetically geologist Ekaterina Elagina recalled those moments when the search group, already completing a working day in the Yakut taiga , I noticed this mineral almost by accident.
The geological exploration group, which, in addition to Elagina, was headed by Yuri Khabardin and Vladimir Avdeenko, knew that the found pyrope was an indispensable companion to diamonds deeply hidden in earth's crust. Scientists went to one of the potentially diamond-bearing points of Yakutia in the spring of 1955. The search area was in the remote taiga, on the banks of the winding tributaries of the Vilyui River.
Temporary tent city
in the village of Mirny, 1958
Last August, their colleague, geologist Larisa Popugaeva, discovered the first kimberlite pipe in Russia on the banks of the Yakut Vilyuy River.
Diamond deposits are called “pipes” because their deposits are approximately cylindrical in shape, extending a thousand meters or more deep into the earth.
And the satellite mineral pyrope was discovered on June 13 at the entrance to the fox hole. Without knowing it, geologists stood in the center of the largest kimberlite pipe on the planet!
"Diamond Puddle"
“The next day,” recalled Ekaterina Elagina, “we moved the camp to the place of the find and began to search this section of the river. Soon, with enthusiastic cries, they began to find diamonds, hide them in paper bags, record their finds in a field diary and hide them at the bottom of a field bag. When they saw two large crystals under the flat tile at once, the three of them let out a roar, similar to that, which comes from a crowded stadium with a successfully scored puck!..”
The taiga land and water of Yakutia are cold even in June. By the end of the working day, as Elagina recalled, everyone was “moaning in pain with cramps that were holding their hands.” But from a small hollow, one and a half meters long and a little over a meter wide, about a dozen diamonds were extracted. The area was immediately called a “diamond puddle.”
Rich in precious stones
the area was immediately named
"diamond puddle"
When did it start cold war, Soviet Union lost the opportunity to buy diamonds abroad. Our country needed its own source of this precious raw material - that is why, since the late 40s of the last century, search groups of geologists have been plowing the taiga west of the Lena River. The fact is that the tectonic structure of a significant part of Western Yakutia is similar to the structure of southern Africa with its famous diamond deposits in kimberlite pipes, known there since the 19th century.
The search for diamonds in Yakutia was a strategic task - geologists were subject to almost military discipline and the obligation to strictly preserve state secret. Therefore, the radio message from the banks of the Irelyakh River about the discovery of diamonds was encrypted with a special code. The kimberlite pipe was associated with the peace pipe, which, according to legend, was smoked by the Indians during major events. And the discoverers of the world’s richest diamond mine sent a message over the radio: “We lit the pipe of peace, the tobacco is excellent.”
“We lit a pipe of peace...”
“Tabak” was truly magnificent - within three years, open-pit diamond mining began here, on the banks of a small Yakut river, right in the dug quarry. Another year later, the settlement that arose here (with a population of 5,700 people) received the status of a city and a name directly related to the radiogram of the pioneer geologists. So in the future, 2019, the city of Mirny will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
This year 2018 marks exactly 60 years since stripping work began at the Mir diamond mine - removal rocks, covering minerals. Over the decades from 1958 to 2001, the largest diamond quarry in the world by total volume arose here - 525 m deep and about 1.2 km in diameter. By the end of the 20th century, trucks moving along a spiral road along the walls of the quarry needed to travel over 8 km to rise from the bottom to the surface, and helicopters were forbidden to approach the giant funnel, as they were drawn into the quarry by downward air currents.
The largest diamond found in Russia, weighing more than 68 g, was mined here in 1980. This small lemon-yellow piece is rightfully one of the largest and most famous diamonds on the planet. These days, a diamond “stone” of this size costs more than $7 million. In just forty years, more than a trillion rubles worth of diamonds were extracted from the Mir deposit using the quarry method. beginning of the XXI century.
Start of construction of the village of Mirny
The city of Mirny, which was born near a kimberlite pipe, turned into a real diamond capital of Russia. It is no coincidence that the headquarters of the Alrosa company, the largest in the world in terms of diamond production, is now located here. "Alrosa", also known as "Diamonds of Russia-Sakha", traces its ancestry to the Soviet trust "Yakutalmaz", created back in 1957. Here, in Mirny, Yakutniproalmaz was created - the main diamond institute in Russia, engaged in the study and design of industrial diamond mining.
The giant Mir quarry ceased operation in 2001 and soon gave up the title of the largest on the planet to the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe quarry, also located in Yakutia. However, "Mir" and the city of Mirny were not left without their own diamonds; preparations began for the development of diamonds using the underground method - mines stretched from the bottom of the quarry into the depths of the earth.
On August 21, 2009, in the presence of the President of the Russian Federation, the first trolley with diamond-containing kimberlite ore solemnly emerged from the mine to the surface. The Mir underground mine has become no less unique than the world's largest diamond quarry. Precious minerals lie here at a depth of up to a kilometer, which allowed the new mine under the old quarry to successfully operate for many more decades. However, after several years of successful mining, the irresistible forces of nature invaded the diamond business...
Deadly "pickle"
In the language of miners and geologists, the Mir quarry and mine have always worked “in difficult hydrogeological conditions” - here, under the permafrost, reaching a depth of 200–300 m, there are salty waters. Mineralized, that is, saturated with various substances, mixed with methane, hydrogen sulfide and even oil, these waters are compressed by underground pressure. They do not freeze even in the terrible Yakut frosts, penetrating into all the pores and cracks of rocks.
To save the diamond “Mir” from these underground “brines,” many deep “dewatering wells” were initially drilled along the perimeter of the quarry. But it became increasingly difficult to deal with the “brines,” and in 1977 they had to start pumping water out of the quarry. Over the next decade, 75 million cubic meters were pumped out - a rather large river.