We lit a peace pipe, tobacco, excellent, Avdeenko, Elagina, Khabardin, Steve. Abandoned diamond quarry "Mir" in Russia
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.
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 from the bowels of the Earth, a rock that sometimes contains diamonds. The breed is named after the town 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 the 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 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. The 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.
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. Scientists are thinking about a project for an eco-city in a now empty huge hole. The head of the Moscow architectural bureau Nikolai Lyutomsky talks about his plans: “The main part of the project is a huge concrete structure, which will become a kind of “plug” for the former quarry and will burst it from the inside. On top of the pit will be covered with a translucent dome on which solar panels will be installed. Climate in Yakutia it is harsh, but there are many clear days and the batteries will be able to generate about 200 MW of electricity, which should more than meet the needs of the future city. In addition, it is possible to use the Earth’s heat. In winter, the air in Mirny is cooled to –60°C, but at a depth below. 150 meters (that is, below the permafrost) the ground temperature is positive, which adds energy efficiency to the project. The city space is proposed to be divided into three tiers: the lower one for growing agricultural products (the so-called vertical farm), the middle one for a forest park area that purifies the air, and the upper one for permanent use. residence of people, which has a residential function and serves to house administrative and sociocultural buildings and structures. The total area of the city will be 3 million square meters, and up to 10,000 people will be able to live here - tourists, service personnel and farm workers."
In Soviet times, a sufficient number of cities were built on the territory of our country, many of which are truly unique in their geographical location and the engineering solutions used. This is the city of Mirny (Yakutia). The diamond quarry, which is located within its boundaries, is one of the wonders of the modern world, as it amazes even seasoned specialists with its size.
"Peace Pipe"
By the way, scientifically this quarry is a “kimberlite pipe” called “Mir”. The city itself appeared after its discovery and the start of development, and therefore was named in its honor. The quarry has an unreal depth of 525 meters and a diameter of almost 1.3 km! It itself was formed in time immemorial, when streams of lava and hot volcanic gases burst out from the depths of our planet at tremendous speed. When cut, it resembles a glass or cone. Thanks to the enormous force of the explosion, kimberlite, the name given to the rock containing natural diamonds, was ejected from the bowels of the Earth.
The name of this substance comes from the name of the South African city of Kimberley. Almost 17 grams were discovered there in 1871, as a result of which prospectors and adventurers from all over the world poured into that area in an unstoppable stream. How did our city of Mirny (Yakutia) come into being? The quarry is the basis for its appearance.
How the deposit was discovered
In mid-June 1955, Soviet geologists in Yakutia were looking for traces of kimberlite and came across a fallen larch, the roots of which had been torn out of the ground by a powerful hurricane. The fox took advantage of this natural “preparation” by digging a hole there. It served us well: judging by the color of the earth, the experts realized that there was excellent kimberlite under the fox hole.
A coded radiogram was immediately sent to Moscow: “We lit the pipe of peace, excellent tobacco!” Just a few days later, huge columns of construction equipment were pouring into the wilderness. This is how the city of Mirny (Yakutia) arose. The quarry had to be developed in extremely difficult conditions. One has only to look at the pit covered with snow to understand the enormous scope of the work carried out here!
Delegation from South Africa
To break through a few meters of permafrost, tens of thousands of tons of powerful explosives had to be used. Already in the 60s of the last century, the deposit began to consistently produce two kilograms of diamonds, and at least 1/5 of them were of excellent quality and could be sent to jewelry stores after cutting. The remaining stones were intensively used in Soviet industry.
The deposit developed so rapidly that the South African company De Beers was simply forced to buy Soviet diamonds in droves just to prevent a global decline in their prices. The leadership of this organization submitted a request for a visit to the city of Mirny (Yakutia). The quarry amazed them, but they didn’t stay there for long...
Tricks of the trade
The USSR government agreed, but demanded a return favor - that Soviet specialists be allowed into the fields in South Africa. The delegation from Africa arrived in Moscow... and was delayed there for a long time, because banquets were constantly being held for the guests. When the specialists finally arrived in the city of Mirny, they had no more than 20 minutes to inspect the quarry itself.
But what they saw still shocked them to the core. For example, the guests simply could not imagine the technology of diamond mining without the use of water. However, there is nothing surprising in the conditions for this: in those places there is sub-zero temperature for almost seven months of the year, and permafrost is not something to joke about. The city of Mirny is in a dangerous place! The depth of the quarry is such that, if desired, you can even create a miniature sea here.
Brief history of mining
From 1957 to 2001, more than $17 billion worth of diamonds were mined here. During the development process, the quarry near the city of Mirny in Siberia expanded so much that from the bottom to the surface the length of the road for trucks was eight kilometers. It should be understood that in 2001 the deposit was not depleted at all: open-pit diamond mining simply became too dangerous. Scientists were able to find out that the vein stretches to a depth of more than a kilometer, and in these conditions an underground mine is needed. By the way, it reached its design capacity of one million tons of ore already in 2012. Today, experts believe that this unique deposit can be developed for another 35 years (approximately).
Some terrain problems
Helicopters are strictly prohibited from flying over the quarry, since such a flight is certain death for the vehicle and crew. The laws of physics simply throw the helicopter to the bottom of the quarry. The high walls of the tube also have their share of disadvantages: there is a far from remote possibility that one day precipitation and erosion will lead to the formation of a monstrous landslide that will completely engulf the city of Mirny (Yakutia). The quarry, a photo of which is in the article, can also be used for purposes that some may consider truly fantastic. We are talking about the possibility of creating a unique city of the future in a titanic pit.
“City of the Future”: dreams or reality?
Nikolai Lyutomsky was appointed head of this project. The most difficult thing in the upcoming work is to create a cyclopean concrete structure that will not only strengthen the walls of the quarry, but will also expand it, providing additional strength. This will be an incredible tourist attraction that only the city of Mirny can boast of!
The quarry, a photo of which can be seen in the review, is supposed to be covered from above with a transparent dome, on the sides of which solar panels will be mounted. Of course, the climate in Yakutia is extremely harsh, but there are plenty of sunny days. Energy experts suggest that batteries alone will be able to generate at least 200 MW of energy per year. Finally, it will be possible to take advantage of the warmth of the planet itself.
The fact is that in winter this area cools down to -60 degrees Celsius. Yes, it’s hard to envy those whose homeland is the city of Mirny (Yakutia). The quarry, the photo of which is amazing, is frozen in the same way, but only to a depth of 150 meters. Below is a constantly above-zero temperature. The futuristic city is supposed to be divided into three main tiers. On the lowest one they want to grow agricultural products, on the middle one it is planned to mark out a full-fledged forest park area.
The upper part is an area for permanent residence of people; in addition to residential premises, there will be offices, entertainment complexes, etc. If the construction plan is fully implemented, the area of the city will be three million square meters. Up to 10 thousand people will be able to live here at the same time. The peaceful city itself (Yakutia) has about 36 thousand citizens. The quarry, which is half a kilometer deep, will allow them to rest comfortably without having to fly to distant lands.
Other information on the Eco-City project
Initially, this project was given the name “Eco-city 2020”, but today it is clear that it will clearly not be possible to implement it by the scheduled date. By the way, why are they even going to build it? The point is the residents: only five months of the year their living conditions more or less correspond to the comfortable norm, and the rest of the time they live at temperatures that are more typical for the Arctic and Antarctica. The city will allow them to relax at any time of the year, basking in the sun’s rays, and they shouldn’t forget about the production capacity of giant farms: all residents and tourists will be more than provided with vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables.
To ensure that the lower levels receive enough light, it is planned to leave a lighting shaft of gigantic diameter in the center. In addition to solar panels, the effectiveness of which is still quite questionable (plus installation difficulties), some engineers offer the option of building a nuclear power plant. Today, all this is at the stage of very vague plans. I really want to hope that the city of Mirny, whose diamond quarry is famous all over the world, will become more comfortable for people to live in.
As we said, in the 60s, up to two kilograms of diamonds were mined here per year, and a fifth of them were of high jewelry quality. Per ton of rock there was up to a gram of pure raw material, and among the stones there were many that were suitable for jewelry processing. Today, there are approximately 0.4 grams of diamonds per ton of ore.
The largest diamond
At the end of December 1980, the largest in the history of the deposit was found here. This giant, weighing 68 grams, received the solemn name “XXVI Congress of the CPSU.”
When did open-pit mining cease?
When did they finish off Mirny? The diamond quarry became dangerous to develop in the 1990s, when the working depth reached 525 meters. At the same time, the bottom of the pit was flooded. It was Mir that became the largest diamond mine in our country. Mining lasted more than 44 years. Until that time, production was managed by the Sakha company, whose annual profits exceeded $600 million. Today the mine is managed by Alrosa. This corporation is one of the largest diamond producers in the world.
When did the idea of a closed mine come about?
Already in the 1970s, construction of the first tunnels began, as everyone understood the impossibility of permanent open-pit mining. But this method was transferred to a permanent basis only in 1999. Today it is known for sure that the vein still exists at a depth of 1200 meters. Perhaps diamonds will be mined deeper.
This is how the Republic of Yakutia is rich in raw materials: the city of Mirny, the quarry in which stuns everyone’s imagination - one of the sources of national wealth. The diamonds that are mined there go not only to the needs of jewelry companies, but also to the production of many complex devices and mechanisms.
Creating artificial islands or destroying natural mountains: people are constantly changing the face of the planet. And the miners cope excellently with this task by changing ever larger areas of the landscape. Some pits dug by crushers in an attempt to extract ore are true marvels of technology, and the largest of them are visible from space.
Some of these amazing examples of human ability to subjugate nature are created in the form of open pits. This mining method is used when resources lie too close to the surface and the soil composition does not allow tunneling. Through the efforts of miners, careers grow until resources are exhausted. After the quarries are depleted, they turn into landfills or artificial lakes, but despite this they continue to amaze the imagination with their scale. We invite you to see the best of the largest quarries in the world.
Diamond tube "Mir"
Owner: Alrosa
Resources: diamonds
Location: Russia, Mirny
Development started in 1957
Currently, it is the second largest man-made crater in the world. This diamond mine is located in Russia, near the city of Mirny. “The World” is so huge that flights are prohibited over it, since the mine workings create a very strong downdraft of air. The quarry, whose development began in 1957, produced up to 10 million carats of diamonds per year until its closure in 2011. "The World" was notorious for its terrible conditions. In winter, the temperature in the quarry drops so much that it freezes machine oil and rubber, and leads to the gradual collapse of the quarry. By the time the mine was closed, the time it took to lift the car from the bottom of the quarry to the surface reached 2 hours.
Diamond tube "Davik"
Owner: Rio Tinto (60%), Harry Winston Diamond Corporation (40%)
Resources: diamonds
Location: Canada
Development started in 2003
The Diavik diamond pipe is located in Canada and is no less impressive than the Mir, despite the fact that it is significantly smaller than its Russian counterpart. Diavik produces 8 million carats of diamonds per year, and the development of the mine began in 2003. It is most notable for the fact that it is located on the island of Lac De Grace, which allows you to observe amazing metamorphoses: in the summer the quarry is surrounded by crystalline water, and in winter it is shrouded in an icy desert. There is a winter road leading to Diavik - the seasonal road is accessible only two months a year, it stretches along the surface of a frozen lake 375 km north of Yellowknife. The rest of the time, you can only get to Diavik by air.
Bingham Canyon
Owner: Rio Tinto
Resources: copper
Location: Utah, USA
Development started in 1904
Visible from space and also known as Kennecott, the Bingham Canyon copper mine is the deepest mine in the world. The discoverers of the mine were the Mormons - who discovered it in the mid-19th century, at that time the deposit reached 1.2 km deep, 2.5 miles wide and occupied an area of more than 7.7 km 2. Surprisingly, despite the fact that the quarry is being developed since 1904, production at the field is expected to continue until 2030.
Calgory Super Pit
Owner: Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines
Resources: Gold
Location: Calgory, Australia
Development began in 1989.
The Phemiston Open Pit gold mine is the largest gold mine in the world and is commonly referred to as the Super Pit. The oblong-shaped section is located in western Australia, reaches 3.5 km in length, 1.5 km in width and drops to a depth of more than 320 meters. Super Pit produces more than 850 thousand ounces of gold per year.
Hal-Rust-Mahoning Quarry
Owner: Hibbing Taconite
Resources: Iron Ore
Location: Minnesota, USA
Development started in 1893
The Mahoning quarry began to be developed as an underground mine, but the iron ore was too close to the surface and the development had to be carried out in an open pit. Now the Mahoning quarry reaches 8 km in length, 3.2 km in width and 180 meters in depth. During the development of the field, it was decided to combine several smaller workings into one large quarry. For such a “merger” it was necessary to move the city of Hibbing, located in close proximity to the quarries. Relocating the city took 2 years and $16 million, during which time nearly 200 residential buildings and 20 office buildings were moved. At its peak between World War I and World War II, the mine produced 14 percent of all iron ore produced in the United States. Today, almost 100 years later, the Hibbing Taconite Company still uses Mahoning for mining.
Toquepala
Owner: Southern Copper Corporation
Resources: Copper
Location: Tacna, Peru
Development started in 1960
The Andes are home to several of the world's largest mines. Toquepala reaches 700 meters in depth, and the diameter reaches more than 2.5 km. Looking at the photograph taken by a NASA satellite, you can see the giant rock dumps that have formed artificial mountains along the northern part of the mine.
Diamond pipe "Ekati"
Owner: BHP Billiton
Resources: Diamonds
Location: Northwest Canada
Development started in 1998
Ekati is located 300 km from Yellowknife, and was discovered during the gold rush. Since the project opened in 1985, lands from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Circle have been resold like geological lottery tickets. The scientific discovery that proved that kimberlite pipes are a sign of a diamond deposit made Yekati another Jack later in this lottery.
Kimberley Quarry
Owner: Da Beers
Resources: diamonds
Location: Kimberley, South Africa
Development started in 1871
The name - Giant Hole - is what really lets your imagination run wild. The section, 240 meters deep, is the largest mine in the world where mining was carried out manually. The field was originally owned by the Da Beer brothers, which led to a battle over patent licenses with Hal-Rust-Mahoning.
After 16 years of excavations in extremely harsh conditions, small quarries located in the region came to the decision to create a conglomerate, and unite all workings in one company, Da Beers Consolidated Mines Limited. After lying abandoned for more than 100 years, the mine was turned into a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Grasberg Quarry
Owner: Freeport-McMoRan
Resources: copper, gold
Location: Papua, Indonesia
Development started in 1990
The Grasberg deposit is the largest gold mine in the world and the third largest copper mine. Grasberg's turbulent past includes dozens of expeditions, a rebel attack and $55 million in over-budget construction.
In the 1930s, a Dutch scientific expedition set out to explore one of the highest peaks in the Dutch East Indies. The expedition report reported the discovery of reserves of gold and copper, which later became the Ertsberg Quarry. Due to inaccessibility - the field is located in a mountain range at an altitude of more than 4,100 meters above sea level - construction costs were estimated at $175 million; the project involved the construction of 116 km of roads, an airstrip, a power plant and a port. In 1977, a group of rebels attacked the mine and caused sabotage by planting explosives on the railway line.
Ten years after the attack, Freeport concluded that production had been depleted and began exploring the area around the field in hopes of producing smaller associated deposits. The company hit the jackpot at the Grasberg deposit, located 3 km from Ertsberg with maximum copper reserves of $40 billion. In the aerial photographs below you can see what Grasberg looks like now. And although Östberg began to be developed in the 30s and about $175 million was invested in it, it is too small to be visible.
Chuquicamata
Owner: CODELCO
Resources:: copper, gold
Location: Chile
Development started in 1882
If we talk about volumes, you will not find production larger than the Chilean Chuquicamata. Having moved to the state. property after the Chilean nationalization of 1970, the workings reached 4.3 km long, 3 km wide and almost 900 meters deep.
For a brief period, Chuquicamata held the largest annual production volume. Prior to its merger with the Escondida quarry in 2002, the quarry operated the largest smelter and largest electrolytic refinery in the world. It is obvious that the area in the mine area was used for many hundreds of centuries; 17 years after the start of work, a “copper man” dating back to 500 BC was discovered in a blocked temporary working.
Escondida
Owner: Minera Escondida
Resources: Copper
Location: Atacama Desert, Chile
Development started in 1990
Escondida produces more copper than any other quarry in the world. In 2007, Minera Escondida produced more than 1.5 million tons of copper worth more than $20 billion. Construction of the quarry began after studies showed a high probability of the existence of a copper belt in the region, just 300 km from the Chuquicamato quarry.
Berkeley Pete
Owner: Atlantic Richfield Company
Resources: copper, silver, gold
Location: Montana, USA
Development started in 1955
The development of the mine was stopped 30 years ago. Since then, without water pumps to keep the quarry open, the 540-meter pit has filled with rainwater. Despite the fact that the water appears crystal clear from above, in fact it contains a real soup of heavy metals and dangerous chemical elements - such as arsenic, sulfuric acid and cadmium. In fact, the water in the quarry is so rich in minerals that Montana Resources extracts 180 thousand tons of copper per month pumping water into the surrounding ponds.
The mine opened in 1955, production was in the region of 1 billion tons of resource and subsequently grew so much that the owner of the Anaconda deposit bought a neighboring city to continue expansion.
Yuba Goldfields
Owner: Western Aggregate
Resources: Aggregated
Location: California, USA.
Development started in 1848
Yuba Goldfrieds is located along the Yuba River in California. The deposit was established during the gold rush of 1848-55. Being located in the river bed, the mine was in its infancy, but as soon as word spread about the prospects of the region, large mining companies began to actively invest in projects in the region. To minimize production, companies began opening mines using the pressure of water jets in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Soon, so much waste and debris was dumped into the river that the river bed rose 100 feet and in some areas destroyed and flooded communities in the river area.
The area has now exhausted its gold reserves and although it is still used for the extraction of concrete components, there are plans to turn it into a nature reserve. Yuba Goldfrieds are known for their unusual appearance, when looking at aerial photography you can see how mountains, streams, and pits created under the influence of many years of mining - like a gut, stretch along the river bed.
Diamond pipe “Udachnaya”
Owner: ALROSA
Resources: Diamonds
Location: Republic of Sakha, Russia
Development started in 1988
The depth of Udachnaya reaches more than 600 meters, although it is not as wide as Mir. Discovered a little later than Mir, Udachnaya is so remote from civilization that the project had its own small town built for the mine workers, named after the deposit. Since 2010, Alrosa has changed the type of mining at the mine to underground, since open-pit mining has become no longer profitable.
Olympic Dam
Owner: BHP Billiton
Resources: copper, gold, silver, uranium
Location: South Australia
Development started in 1988.
Although BHP Billiton's underground mine has plans to expand into the world's largest open pit mine, it already stretches a long way from what was once Roxby Downs Ships station. Imagine that this deposit contains tons of copper, uranium, gold and silver.
Olympic Dam has the world's fourth largest copper reserve and is the world's largest uranium deposit. Even without expanding the area of the Olympic Dam quarry, it consumes 35 million liters of water daily.
Feb 10, 2009
Kimberlite pipe ‘Mir’ is a quarry located in the city of Mirny, Yakutia. The quarry has a depth of 525 m and a diameter of 1.2 km, and is one of the largest quarries in the world. Mining of diamond-bearing kimberlite ore ceased in June 2001. Currently, an underground mine of the same name is being built on board the quarry to develop the remaining sub-quarry reserves, the extraction of which by open pit mining is unprofitable.
The kimberlite pipe was discovered on June 13, 1955 by geologists of the Amakinsk expedition Yu. I. Khabardin, E. N. Elagina and V. P. Avdeenko. The famous radiogram they transmitted to the leadership of the expedition about the discovery of kimberlite was coded:
Lighted a peace pipe zpt tobacco excellent dot Avdeenko zpt Elagina zpt Khabardin dot
In 1957, open-pit diamond mining began and continued until June 2001. The village of Mirny was formed near the quarry, which became the center of the Soviet diamond mining industry. The largest diamond found in Russia was mined at the Mir mine on December 23, 1980. It weighs 342.5 carats (more than 68 g) and is called “XXVI Congress of the CPSU”. In recent years, mining trucks have been driving along a spiral road 8 km from the bottom to the surface.
During its work, the quarry was reconstructed 3 times, a unique grouting curtain was created that prevented the entry of aggressive brines from the Metegero-Ichersky aquifer complex, as well as a drainage system for 32,250 m3 of water per day (about 1 million m3 per month). Geological exploration has shown that the depth of diamonds exceeds a kilometer, so currently the ALROSA company, which is developing the deposit, is building an underground mine at the deposit. For the construction of an underground mine and future safe mining of the upper underground horizons, the bottom of the mothballed quarry was covered with a special protective layer of rock. This “cushion”, or “pillar”, is not susceptible to burst pressure, its thickness is 45 meters.
Over the years of development using the open-pit (quarry) method, diamonds were extracted from the deposit, according to unofficial data, worth $17 billion, and about 350 million cubic meters were exported. m of rock.
For the discovery of the Mir tube Yu.I. Khabardin was awarded the Lenin Prize, E.N. Elagina was awarded a diploma and a diploma “Discoverer of the Deposit”, and also became an honorary citizen of the city of Mirny.
Even at the beginning of the 19th century, rumors began to arise about the presence of precious stones in the territory of Yakutia and the western lands bordering it. A number of scientists and geologists pointed out the existence of important similarities in the structure of the Siberian platform with the South African one, where active development of primary diamond deposits was already underway. After the civil war, local historian and teacher Pyotr Starovatov got into a conversation in Kempendyai (Suntar village area) with an old man who told him about his discovery in one of the local rivers - it was a sparkling pebble the size of a pinhead. He sold the find to a merchant for two bottles of vodka, a bag of cereal and five bags of tea. Later, another local resident also said that he found precious stones on the banks of the Kempendijk and Chona rivers.
But only in 1947-1948 (after the Government decree signed by Stalin on intensifying the search for diamonds in the USSR) targeted searches for diamonds began for the first time on the territory of the Siberian Platform. In the fall of 1948, a group of geologists led by G. Fanstein launched prospecting work on the Vilyui and Chona rivers, and on August 7, 1949, the group found the first diamond on the Sokolina sand spit, and subsequently a diamond placer was discovered here. Exploration work in 1950-1953 was also successful - several diamond placers were discovered, and On August 21, 1954, the first kimberlite pipe in the Soviet Union, called Zarnitsa, was discovered.
Kimberlite- igneous rock containing diamonds, often in industrial concentrations. The breed bears the same name as the city of Kimberley in South Africa, where a diamond weighing 85 carats (16.7 g) was found in 1871. The formation of a kimberlite pipe is simplified - a consequence of a volcanic eruption, when gases under enormous temperature and high pressure through the earth's crust burst out from the bowels of the earth. A volcanic explosion brings diamond-bearing rock to the surface. Geologically, the pipe is shaped like a glass or funnel of enormous proportions, giving rise to the characteristic shape of diamond quarries around the world.
Using the unique method of “pyrope survey”, proposed by Natalia Nikolaevna Sarsadskikh (deposit search using pyropes - diamond satellite minerals, excluding lengthy and expensive searches by digging pits “the old fashioned way”) in 1955, 15 primary deposits were discovered, among them the famous “Mir”. Upon the discovery of the deposit, the expedition sent the famous radiogram: “Light a pipe of peace zpt tobacco excellent dot Avdeenko zpt Elagina zpt Khabardin dot.”
The discovery of the deposit became a find of extreme importance for the USSR and one of the largest geological discoveries of the twentieth century. The diamond industry was designed to seriously increase the economic potential of the Soviet Union. Diamond mining on an industrial scale first began at Mir.
Personal impressions from the first meeting with the quarry - it is huge!
Today, the quarry has a depth of 525 meters and a diameter of 1.2 km - and yes, contrary to common misconception, it is not the largest. "Mir" is significantly smaller in size than the "Udachnaya" pipe, discovered in 1955 and located 400 km to the north (its surface size is 1600x2000 meters, depth 640 meters). Nevertheless, Mir’s production volumes are impressive: over the years of open-pit mining, according to unofficial data, $17 billion worth of diamonds were extracted from the deposit, and about 350 million cubic meters of rock were removed.
Panorama.
Clicking on the image will open the original:
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. Geological exploration showed that the depth of diamonds exceeds 1 kilometer - open-pit mining at such a depth is dangerous and unprofitable, so now ALROSA extracts diamond ore in underground mines.
In the future it should look like this:
The mining equipment memorial on board the quarry, which I climbed onto
In the last years of the Mir development, the BelAZ route along a spiral road from the surface to the bottom was almost 8 kilometers. Now the sides of the quarry are crumbling, the road is maintained in working order only in a small area, up to the pumping stations.
Martian landscape:
A little about water in "The World".
An aquifer passes through the area where the kimberlite pipe is located. The underground “river” created serious difficulties throughout the active development of the quarry, and the “fight” against it continues to this day - now the safety of work at the mine, located in the thickness of the earth, depends on it. Highly mineralized water, having found many outlets, flows in streams to the bottom of the quarry at a speed of over 1000 cubic meters every hour. Now there is a turquoise acid lake splashing here:
During development, Mir was reconstructed three times, a unique grouting curtain was created to prevent the entry of aggressive brines from the Metegero-Ichersky aquifer complex, as well as a drainage system that removes up to 1 million cubic meters of water from the quarry monthly.
To pump out water, several pumping stations are equipped; they are armed with high-performance submersible pumps (4 pumps at each station, the capacity of each pump is over 450 cubic meters per hour). The pumped water is supplied through a pipeline to a man-made lake located outside the city - a reservoir of mineralized water, where a pumping station located on the shore, in turn, pumps the water further - again underground, into a geological fault.
Even during the construction of the underground mine, the bottom of the quarry was covered with a protective layer of rock - this is the so-called “ore pillar”, designed to protect the mine from the onslaught of thousands of cubic meters of water from above. In connection with the active development of the mine, work is underway to make all water inflow manageable. In particular, structures should be launched that intercept water on the upper horizons. Thus, the mine will fully comply with all safety requirements.
Initially, I approached “Mir” through the courtyards on the eastern side. The “tourist” point, where the quarry is mostly filmed, is on the opposite side - near the airport. In principle, it’s not difficult to get there if you know where to go, but in general, this is not a place for hikers. The road is dirt, there is a lot of dust and BelAZs, after the rain it will most likely become limp to a completely unpleasant state. Along the way, every now and then you come across signs prohibiting passage.