Mirny is a diamond mining town located deep in Siberia, Eastern Russia. It is one of the largest open-pit mines in the world and has the capability to suck in anything that flies over it, including helicopters and small planes.
Mirny is approximately 450 km from the frigid Arctic Circle and is home to around 40,000 people. Alrosa, the largest diamond mining company in the world, is headquartered in Mirny, and most residents of the town work for this company.
The Mirny diamond mine is about 450 km from the Arctic Circle.
Here, there is a massive open-pit diamond mine that is over 525 meters deep with a diameter of 1.25 km.
Unlike anywhere else, the harsh geographical conditions mean that residents often live in houses supported by stilts.
During the freezing winter, ice covers the ground for at least seven months. In the warmer months, the sun rises for 20 hours a day in summer. As the ice melts, the stilt houses help locals avoid flooding.
Scenery in the town of Mirny.
In the 1950s, to meet the Soviet Union’s demand for diamonds after World War II, Stalin ordered the construction of the mine. A team of geologists searched throughout the country in hopes of finding diamonds and eventually discovered signs of this precious metal in the Mirny area while sifting through sediment.
However, the rugged terrain and cold weather made construction very challenging.
In winter, temperatures drop below -40 degrees Celsius, so cold that car tires burst and oil freezes.
Workers had to use jet engines to melt the ice and explosives to break through the permafrost to construct the mine. The mine became operational in 1960.
For many years, this diamond mine has been abandoned.
The gigantic pit has produced a vast number of diamonds with a total value of at least $17 billion over half a century. One of the most famous diamonds here is a 342.57-carat yellow diamond.
In 2004, the mine abruptly closed, citing a flood that made further mining impossible. However, major diamond traders around the world did not believe this explanation, leading to various rumors and conspiracy theories.
For many years, the large pit remained abandoned, and the airspace above was restricted due to the mine’s dangerous depth.
The diamond mine is so large that it has the capability to suck in an entire helicopter or small plane passing overhead. This is due to the strong vortex created when cold air from the surface meets warm air from the mine’s depths, pulling everything down.
By 2009, the mine resumed operations and is expected to continue for another 50 years. However, in 2017, the mine experienced an incident when it flooded while over 100 workers were still inside. This event caused the mine to close once again, with plans to reopen in 2032.
To this day, the Mirny diamond mine remains a mysterious vortex, a seemingly bottomless pit that has produced more than half of the world’s diamonds.
- The Soviet Union concealed the world’s largest diamond mine, with enough reserves for another 3,000 years
- After the “giant” diamond mine, Russia has discovered another gold mine with the largest reserves in the world
- Who children sleep with today will determine their fate later, parents need to pay attention
