Mirny Diamond Mine, Mirny, Sakha Republic, Russia
Scientists Yuri Khabardin, Ekaterina Elagina, and Viktor Avdeenko found traces of volcanic rock kimberlite, which is normally related with diamonds. Khabardin was honored by the Lenin Prize, which was one of the high ranking awards of the Soviet Union, as they deserved. So, the story of Mirny has started in 1957.
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ordered construction on the mine and rebuilt the country after it was devastated by World War II from the money that came from Mir Mine. However, constructing the Mirny wasn’t easy at all. First of all the weather condition of the area is really tough, the winter lasts around seven months and it is often as low as -40 degrees Celsius. The weather became trouble for the scientists, they even used dynamite after they failed to melt the permafrost as much as was wanted.
The upper layers of the mine (down to 340 meters) had very high diamond content of 4 carats per ton of rock, which includes a large amount of gems and industrial stones. One of the largest diamonds was the size of a golf ball, the 130.85 carat Olonkho diamond, worth around £250,000.
Epic Russia Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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