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 mine: a giant crater 525 meters deep and more than 1 kilometer in diameter, initiating ascending currents, sucks in aircraft.
Short description
Quarry Mir was included in the list of candidates for the competitionSeven wonders of Russia "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 importance. After all it was here that more than 50 years ago, for the first time in the history of Russia, industrial diamond mining began.
General view of the Mir quarry
"They lit a pipe of peace, excellent tobacco" - such a secret radiogram was sent by Soviet geologists in 1955 to Moscow, announcing the discovery of the richest diamond deposit. The "tobacco" 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).
Mirny city - the diamond heart of Russia
More recently, no man has set foot on these lands, where permafrost reigns. And this is not surprising: in terms of the absolute value of the minimum temperature (frosts can reach -70 ° C), Yakutia has no equal regions in the entire Northern Hemisphere. The diamond deposit has become a find of extreme importance. The diamond industry was designed to double the economic potential of the Soviet Union.
In particular, Nikita Khrushchev, regarding the strategic importance of diamonds, made the following statement: “It's time for the aggressors-capitalists to show“ Kuzkin's mother ”, soon our Motherland will take a leading position in the international foreign exchange market, having mastered new diamond deposits in Yakutia for the speedy creation of the material and technical base of communism THE USSR".
In 1957, near the diamond-bearing vein, the working settlement of Mirny grew up, which in 1959 received the status of a city. To get here, the first convoys of trucks overcame 2,800 kilometers of off-road.
Bird's eye view of the Mir quarry
Already in the 1960s, more than $ 1 billion in diamonds were mined annually in the Soviet Union. USA... One can only be amazed at how much effort has been invested in the development of the quarry: at a depth of many meters, aggressive waters saturated with methane, hydrogen sulfide and oil arrive at a speed of 3500 cubic meters per day, and if a unique plugging curtain had not been created, the mine would inevitably be flooded. Years passed, and thanks to the labor of workers and builders, Mirny turned from a tiny village into the center of the Russian diamond industry, a modern city with 9-storey buildings and asphalt roads.
Mining of ore in the Mir open pit was stopped in 2001, and the bottom of the mine was mothballed to prepare for the development of the upper underground horizons... Geologists have discovered that the depth of the diamonds is more than 1 kilometer, and it is unprofitable to extract them from the mine in an open way.
Today, the headquarters of ALROSA is located in Mirny, which owns 75% of the diamonds mined in Yakutia. 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 gravity of the abyss
As befits any miracle, there are legends about the Mir diamond quarry. They say that being downstairs, a person feels dizzy, but when he goes upstairs, he experiences euphoria. Similar to a bottomless abyss, the mine beckons, 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.
Inside the quarry "Mir"
Once God flew over Yakutia, but at -70 ° C his hands froze, and he dropped all the treasures to the ground... Among them were gold, gems and diamonds, which Yakutia is so rich in.
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