Mir mine

The diamond-bearing deposits were discovered on June 13, 1955, by Soviet geologists, Yuri Khabardin, Ekaterina Elagina, and Viktor Avdeenko during the large Amakinsky Expedition in Yakut ASSR. They found traces of the volcanic rock kimberlite, which is usually associated with diamonds. This finding was the second success in the search for kimberlite in Russia, after numerous failed expeditions of the 1940s and 1950s. (The first was Zarnitsa mine, 1954.) For this discovery, in 1957, Khabardin was given the Lenin Prize,{{cite web|url=https://forpost-sz.ru/en/a/2021-02-18/intrigues-diamond-discoverers-or-who-was-first-find-mir|work=forpost-sz.ru|title=Intrigues of diamond discoverers, or who was the first to find the "Mir"|author=Анастасия Литвинова|date=18 Feb 2021|access-date=2022-03-05|archive-date=2022-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305091828/https://forpost-sz.ru/en/a/2021-02-18/intrigues-diamond-discoverers-or-who-was-first-find-mir|url-status=live}} one of the highest awards in the Soviet Union.{{cite news|url=http://1sn.ru/show.php?id=5215|script-title=ru:Первооткрывателю трубки "Мир" Екатерине Елагиной исполняется 80 лет|language=Russian|access-date=2009-08-13|archive-date=2012-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328124254/http://1sn.ru/show.php?id=5215|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://gorodmirny.ru/info/about.html |script-title=ru:Город Мирный |language=russian |access-date=2009-08-08 |work=Official site of town Mirny |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610024831/http://gorodmirny.ru/info/about.html |archivedate=2009-06-10 }}

The development of the mine started in 1957, in extremely harsh climate conditions. Seven months of winter per year froze the ground, making it hard to mine. During the brief summer months, the ground turned to slush. Buildings had to be raised on piles, so that they would not sink from their warmth melting the permafrost. The main processing plant had to be built on better ground, found {{cvt|20|km||}} away from the mine. The winter temperatures were so low that car tires and steel would shatter and oil would freeze. During the winter, workers used jet engines to thaw and dig out the permafrost or blasted it with dynamite to get access to the underlying kimberlite. The entire mine had to be covered at night to prevent the machinery from freezing.{{cite web|access-date=2009-08-08|title=A Brief History of the World's Largest Open Pit Diamond Mine|url=http://www.abazias.com/diamondblog/diamond-industry/a-brief-history-of-the-worlds-largest-open-pit-diamond-mine|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130101175210/http://www.abazias.com/diamondblog/diamond-industry/a-brief-history-of-the-worlds-largest-open-pit-diamond-mine|archivedate=2013-01-01}}{{cite book|url=http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/diamond/chap17.htm|chapter=17 The Russians are coming|author=E. J. Epstein|title=The diamond invention|isbn=0-09-147690-9|publisher=Hutchinson|year=1982|access-date=2009-08-13|archive-date=2009-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531030354/http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/diamond/chap17.htm|url-status=live}}

In the 1960s, the mine was producing {{convert|10000000|carat|kg lb}} of diamond per year, of which a relatively high fraction (20%) were of gem quality. The upper layers of the mine (down to {{cvt|340|m||}}) had very high diamond contents of {{convert|4|carat|g|spell=in}} per tonne of ore, with a relatively high ratio of gems to industrial stones. The yield decreased to about {{convert|2|carat|g}} per tonne and the production rate slowed to {{convert|2000000|carat|kg lb}} per year near the pit bottom. The largest diamond of the mine was found on 23 December 1980; it weighed {{cvt|342.5|carat||}} and was named "26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union" ({{langx|ru|XXVI съезд КПСС}}). The mine operation was interrupted in the 1990s at a depth of {{cvt|340|m||}} after the pit bottom became flooded, but resumed later.{{cite web|language=Russian |url=http://www.alrosa.ru/about/production/diamonds/name/index.php?sphrase_id=16613 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720064629/http://www.alrosa.ru/about/production/diamonds/name/index.php?sphrase_id=16613 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-20 |accessdate=2009-08-08 |title=Именные алмазы (list of named diamond) }} [https://archive.today/20120802163214/http://www.eng.alrosa.ru/about/production/diamonds/name/ English version]{{cite book |editor1-last=Kogel |editor1-first=Jessica Elzea |editor2-last=Trivedi |editor2-first=Nikhil C. |editor3-last=Barker |editor3-first=James M. |editor4-last=Krukowski |editor4-first=Stanley T. |date=2006 |title=Industrial Minerals & Rocks: Commodities, Markets, and Uses |edition=7th |publisher=SME |isbn=0-87335-233-5 |page=424 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zNicdkuulE4C&pg=PA424}}

The Mir mine was the first developed and the largest diamond mine in the Soviet Union.{{cite web|title=The Nature of Diamonds - Russia |work=American Museum of Natural History |url=http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/diamonds/russia.html |access-date=2009-08-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404024632/http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/diamonds/russia.html | archivedate=2009-04-04}} Its surface operation lasted 44 years, finally closing in June 2001. After the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s, the mine was operated by the Sakha diamond company, which reported annual profits in excess of $600 million{{clarify|reason=US dollars? Other currency? I do not have full access to source to confirm|date=December 2018}} from diamond sales.{{cite book |last=Tichotsky |first=John |date=2000 |title=Russia's Diamond Colony: The Republic of Sakha |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=90-5702-420-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F7N4G_wxkUYC&pg=PA333 |page=333}}

Later, the mine was operated by Alrosa, the largest diamond producing company in Russia, and employed 3,600 workers. It had long been anticipated that the recovery of diamonds by conventional surface mining would end. Therefore, in the 1970s, construction of a network of tunnels for underground diamond recovery began. By 1999, the project operated exclusively as an underground mine. In order to stabilize the abandoned surface main pit, its bottom was covered by a rubble layer {{cvt|45|m||}} thick. After underground operations began, the project had a mine life estimate of 27 years, based on a drilling exploration program to a depth of {{cvt|1220|m||}}. Production ceased in 2001,{{Cite web|title=Abandoned Mir Diamond Mine in Russia|url=https://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/04/abandoned-mir-diamond-mine-in-russia.html|access-date=2021-07-20|website=www.amusingplanet.com|language=en|archive-date=2021-07-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720103303/https://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/04/abandoned-mir-diamond-mine-in-russia.html|url-status=live}} and the Mir mine closed in 2004.{{Cite web |title=Mirny Mine |publisher=MineDat |url=https://www.mindat.org/loc-17899.html |access-date=29 January 2017 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202061250/https://www.mindat.org/loc-17899.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|first=David (Chrispine) |last=Michaud |date=4 September 2013 |title=Largest Mines in the World |work=Mining Examiner |publisher=911 Metallurgist |url=https://www.911metallurgist.com/blog/15-largest-mines-on-earth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309071439/https://www.911metallurgist.com/blog/15-largest-mines-on-earth |archive-date=9 March 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy }}

The mine was recommissioned in 2009, and is expected to remain operational for 50 more years. The underground Mir mine flooded again in 2017, trapping over 140 miners, all but eight of whom were rescued. {{cite news|access-date=2021-06-14|title=Rescue team forced to give up hunt for four missing diamond miners; search still on for four more|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/life-in-diamond-mining-town-siberia-russia-photos-2019-7#the-mir-mine-is-the-second-largest-manmade-pit-in-the-world-4|archive-date=2021-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614172746/https://www.businessinsider.com/life-in-diamond-mining-town-siberia-russia-photos-2019-7#the-mir-mine-is-the-second-largest-manmade-pit-in-the-world-4|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Russia: Eight missing in flooded diamond mine |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40836301 |work=BBC News |date=5 August 2017 |access-date=3 November 2021 |archive-date=19 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219134215/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40836301 |url-status=live }}

In 2025, Alrosa announced the discovery of the largest diamond mined in Russia, a 468-carat piece named "80 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War" that was dug from the mine.{{Cite web |title=Alrosa Discovers Russia’s 'Largest-Ever’ Diamond as Mir Mine Reopens |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/05/08/alrosa-discovers-russias-largest-ever-diamond-as-mir-mine-reopens-a89020 |access-date=8 May 2025 |work=The Moscow Times |date=8 May 2025 |language=en}}

{{Portal|Siberia}}

• List of mines in Russia
• Internationalnaya diamond mine

{{Reflist|2}}

{{Commons category|Mir mine}}

• [http://atlasobscura.com/places/mirny-diamond-mine Mirny Diamond Mine at Atlas Obscura]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060806051015/http://www.usmra.com/photos/bigpit/ United States Mine Rescue Association ]
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/in_pictures_postcards_from_russia/html/10.stm BBC News Photo journal: "Postcards from Russia"]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070222084338/http://www.umopit.ru/Faces/Mirny.htm "A Face of Mirny"]* [http://www.airliners.net/photo/Alrosa/Antonov-An-24B/1378731/L/ Aerial view of the Mirny Diamond Mine from Airliners.net]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120308104701/http://ac-support.europe.umuc.edu/~tmousali/mirny/index.html A Guided Excursion around the Mirny Sights]
• [http://www.mining-technology.com/features/feature-the-worlds-top-10-biggest-diamond-mines/ Biggest Diamond Mines]

Category:Diamond mines in Russia

Category:Diamond mines in the Soviet Union

Category:Diatremes of Russia

Category:Economy of Siberia

Category:Open-pit mines

Category:Science and technology in the Soviet Union

Category:Surface mines in Russia