Mirny Diamond Mine

Mirny Diamond Mine is a mining site in eastern Siberia, Russia. Mirny Diamond Mine is a diamond mining human handiwork worst ever in the world. Mir Mine also called Mirny Mine. Mine the size of 525 meters (1720 feet) and has a diameter of 1,200 m (3,900 ft), and a hole dug in the world's second largest, after the Bingham Canyon Mine. Air space above the mine is closed for helicopters due to several incidents in which they were sucked in by downward air flow.

Mine was found on June 13, 1955 by Soviet geologists Yuri Khabardin, Ekaterina Elagina and Viktor Avdeenko during Expedition Amakinsky large Yakut ASSR. They found traces of kimberlite volcanic rocks that are usually associated with diamonds. These findings are the first success in the search for kimberlite in Russia, after failing many expeditions from the 1940's and 1950's. For this discovery, in 1957 was given Khabardin Lenin Prize, which is one of the highest awards in the Soviet Union.

Construction of the mine has been started in 1957 in very harsh climatic conditions. Seven months of winter per year to freeze the ground to ice, which is difficult in winter, but it turned into mud in the summer. Buildings must be flexible, so they will not sink in the summer, the main processing plant to be built on land 20 km away from the mine. Winter temperatures are so low that the tires and steel will be damaged and the oil will freeze. During the winter, workers using jet engines to dig defreeze and permafrost or with dynamite to get access to the kimberlite. The entire mine should be closed at night to prevent the engine from freezing.

In 1960 the mine produced 10 million carats (2 tons) per year diamond, where a relatively high fraction (20%) are of gem quality. The biggest diamond found in the December 23, 1980, weighed 342.5 carats (68 g) and named "26th Congress of CPSU" (Russian: XXVI съезд КПСС). Mining operations ceased in the 1990s at a depth of 340 m after the bottom hole into this banjir.Saat, mine is operated by Alrosa, the largest diamond producing company in Russia, and employs 3600 workers. It has long been anticipated that the recovery of diamond surfaces by conventional methods will be saturated. Therefore, in the 1970's has begun construction of a network of underground tunnels for diamond recovery. Diamond production by this method began in 1999 and is expected to last for 27 years. This estimate is based on exploration to a depth of 1220 meters. In order to stabilize the hole left by the main, the bottom is covered by a layer of debris 45 feet thick.