The largest diamond quarry in the world. Kimberlite pipe "Mir" - a diamond quarry in Yakutia Diagram of the mine under the Mir quarry
In Soviet times, a sufficient number of cities were built on the territory of our country, many of which are truly unique in their geographical location and the engineering solutions used. This is the city of Mirny (Yakutia). The diamond quarry located within its boundaries is one of the wonders modern world, as it amazes even seasoned specialists with its size.
"Peace Pipe"
By the way, scientifically this quarry is a “kimberlite pipe” called “Mir”. The city itself appeared after its discovery and the start of development, and therefore was named in its honor. The quarry has an unreal depth of 525 meters and a diameter of almost 1.3 km! It itself was formed in time immemorial, when streams of lava and hot volcanic gases burst out from the depths of our planet at tremendous speed. When cut, it resembles a glass or cone. Thanks to the enormous force of the explosion, kimberlite, the name given to the rock containing natural diamonds, was ejected from the bowels of the Earth.
The name of this substance comes from the name of the South African city of Kimberley. Almost 17 grams were discovered there in 1871, as a result of which prospectors and adventurers from all over the world poured into that area in an unstoppable stream. How did our city of Mirny (Yakutia) come into being? The quarry is the basis for its appearance.
How the deposit was discovered
In mid-June 1955, Soviet geologists in Yakutia were looking for traces of kimberlite and came across a fallen larch, the roots of which had been torn out of the ground by a powerful hurricane. The fox took advantage of this natural “preparation” and dug a hole there. It served us well: judging by the color of the earth, the experts realized that there was excellent kimberlite under the fox hole.
A coded radiogram was immediately sent to Moscow: “We lit the peace pipe, excellent tobacco!” Just a few days later, huge columns of construction equipment were pouring into the wilderness. This is how the city of Mirny (Yakutia) arose. The quarry had to be developed in extremely difficult conditions. One has only to look at the pit covered with snow to understand the enormous scope of the work carried out here!
Delegation from South Africa
To break through a few meters of permafrost, tens of thousands of tons of powerful explosives had to be used. Already in the 60s of the last century, the deposit began to consistently produce two kilograms of diamonds, and at least 1/5 of them were of excellent quality and could be sent to jewelry stores after cutting. The remaining stones were intensively used in Soviet industry.
The deposit developed so rapidly that the South African company De Beers was simply forced to buy Soviet diamonds in droves just to prevent a global decline in their prices. The leadership of this organization submitted a request for a visit to the city of Mirny (Yakutia). The quarry amazed them, but they didn’t stay there for long...
Tricks of the trade
The USSR government agreed, but demanded a return favor - that Soviet specialists be allowed into the fields in South Africa. The delegation from Africa arrived in Moscow... and was delayed there for a long time, because banquets were constantly being held for the guests. When the specialists finally arrived in the city of Mirny, they had no more than 20 minutes to inspect the quarry itself.
But what they saw still shocked them to the core. For example, the guests simply could not imagine the technology of diamond mining without the use of water. However, there is nothing surprising in the conditions for this: in those places there is sub-zero temperature for almost seven months of the year, and permafrost is not something to joke about. The city of Mirny is in a dangerous place! The depth of the quarry is such that, if desired, you can even create a miniature sea here.
Brief history of mining
From 1957 to 2001, more than $17 billion worth of diamonds were mined here. During the development process, the quarry near the city of Mirny in Siberia expanded so much that from the bottom to the surface the length of the road for trucks was eight kilometers. It should be understood that in 2001 the deposit was not depleted at all: open-pit diamond mining simply became too dangerous. Scientists were able to find out that the vein stretches to a depth of more than a kilometer, and in these conditions an underground mine is needed. By the way, it reached its design capacity of one million tons of ore already in 2012. Today, experts believe that this unique deposit can be developed for another 35 years (approximately).
Some terrain problems
Helicopters are strictly prohibited from flying over the quarry, since such a flight is certain death for the vehicle and crew. The laws of physics simply throw the helicopter to the bottom of the quarry. The high walls of the tube also have their share of disadvantages: there is a far from remote possibility that one day precipitation and erosion will lead to the formation of a monstrous landslide that will completely engulf the city of Mirny (Yakutia). The quarry, a photo of which is in the article, can also be used for purposes that some may consider truly fantastic. We are talking about the possibility of creating in a titanic pit unique city future.
“City of the Future”: dreams or reality?
Nikolai Lyutomsky was appointed head of this project. The most difficult thing in the upcoming work is to create a cyclopean concrete structure that will not only strengthen the walls of the quarry, but will also expand it, providing additional strength. This will be an incredible tourist attraction that only the city of Mirny can boast of!
The quarry, a photo of which can be seen in the review, is supposed to be covered from above with a transparent dome, on the sides of which solar panels will be mounted. Of course, the climate in Yakutia is extremely harsh, but there are plenty of sunny days. Energy experts suggest that batteries alone will be able to generate at least 200 MW of energy per year. Finally, it will be possible to take advantage of the warmth of the planet itself.
The fact is that in winter this area cools down to -60 degrees Celsius. Yes, it’s hard to envy those whose homeland is the city of Mirny (Yakutia). The quarry, the photo of which is amazing, is frozen in the same way, but only to a depth of 150 meters. Below is a constantly above-zero temperature. The futuristic city is supposed to be divided into three main tiers. On the lowest one they want to grow agricultural products, on the middle one it is planned to mark out a full-fledged forest park area.
The upper part is an area for permanent residence of people; in addition to residential premises, there will be offices, entertainment complexes, etc. If the construction plan is fully implemented, the area of the city will be three million square meters. Up to 10 thousand people will be able to live here at the same time. The peaceful city itself (Yakutia) has about 36 thousand citizens. The quarry, which is half a kilometer deep, will allow them to rest comfortably without having to fly to distant lands.
Other information on the Eco-City project
Initially, this project was given the name “Eco-city 2020”, but today it is clear that it will clearly not be possible to implement it by the scheduled date. By the way, why are they even going to build it? The point is the residents: only five months of the year their living conditions more or less correspond to the comfortable norm, and the rest of the time they live at temperatures that are more typical for the Arctic and Antarctica. The city will allow them to relax at any time of the year, basking in the sun’s rays, and they shouldn’t forget about the production capacity of giant farms: all residents and tourists will be more than provided with vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables.
To ensure that the lower levels receive enough light, it is planned to leave a lighting shaft of gigantic diameter in the center. Besides solar panels, the effectiveness of which is still quite doubtful (plus installation difficulties), some engineers propose the option of building a nuclear power plant. Today, all this is at the stage of very vague plans. I really want to hope that the city of Mirny, whose diamond quarry is famous all over the world, will become more comfortable for people to live in.
As we said, in the 60s, up to two kilograms of diamonds were mined here per year, and a fifth of them were of high jewelry quality. Per ton of rock there was up to a gram of pure raw material, and among the stones there were many that were suitable for jewelry processing. Today, there are approximately 0.4 grams of diamonds per ton of ore.
The largest diamond
At the end of December 1980, the largest in the history of the deposit was found here. This giant, weighing 68 grams, received the solemn name “XXVI Congress of the CPSU.”
When did open-pit mining cease?
When did they finish off Mirny? The diamond quarry became dangerous to develop in the 1990s, when the mining depth reached 525 meters. At the same time, the bottom of the pit was flooded. It was Mir that became the largest diamond mine in our country. Mining lasted more than 44 years. Until that time, production was managed by the Sakha company, whose annual profits exceeded $600 million. Today the mine is managed by Alrosa. This corporation is one of the largest diamond producers in the world.
When did the idea of a closed mine come about?
Already in the 1970s, construction of the first tunnels began, as everyone understood the impossibility of permanent open-pit mining. But this method was transferred to a permanent basis only in 1999. Today it is known for sure that the vein still exists at a depth of 1200 meters. Perhaps diamonds will be able to be mined deeper.
This is how the Republic of Yakutia is rich in raw materials: the city of Mirny, the quarry in which stuns everyone’s imagination - one of the sources of national wealth. The diamonds that are mined there go not only to the needs of jewelry companies, but also to the production of many complex devices and mechanisms.
Kimberlite pipes and mines of the Russian Federation - according to tornado
and tornado-type, craters, batholiths, uranium calderas
Prevention of violations in fields and hazardous industries
- - holes in the ground, dangerous places, 2 scientific videos, 63.8 MB, download in rar archive
- - technical explosions on kimberlites, 4 scientific videos, 257 MB, download in rar archive
- - “Belaz” and equipment on kimberlites, 8 scientific videos, 409 MB, download in rar archive
- - kimberlites "InGOK", "Udachnaya", etc., 17 scientific videos, 552 MB, download in rar archive
- - kimberlite "Phemiston Open" Australia, 9 scientific videos, 451 MB, download in rar archive
In Yakutia, on the left bank of the middle reaches of the Irel River (the right tributary of the Vilyui River) in close proximity to the city of Mirny, there is the largest diamond quarry in the world in terms of total volume (a sample of the primary terrestrial lithosphere of red-brown color - to magma) - the Mir kimberlite pipe "(the city of Mirny appeared after the opening of the pipe and was named after it). The quarry has a depth of 525 m and a diameter of 1.2 km, and is one of the largest quarries in the world.
Uranium quarry. The Mir kimberlite uranium pipe is the most typical example of a uranium deposit in the world. In addition to underground mines, open pit mines (some of them up to 500 m deep) are a popular method of extracting uranium. It is believed that the radiation danger of quarries for excavation workers and miners is less than that of closed underground mines (such as the Fergana or Almaden cinnabar mine), but is aggravated by direct releases of lithospheric rocks and volcanic gases (in this case, the working conditions are the same - dangerous).
From time immemorial, nature has puzzled man with its phenomena - tornadoes, kimberlites, each time throwing up more and more new mysteries. One of these extraordinary and amazing phenomena can be considered giant holes in the Earth - mixer-type kimberlites (breakdown to the lithosphere and magma).
These amazing natural phenomena arise for various reasons: natural anomalies (primary kimberlites - breakdowns of meteorites and bolides of the earth's crust), cataclysms (fracture of lithospheric plates), human intervention (the release of karst waters and lakes onto the surface of kimberlites) do their job. The tube looks small from above.
However, increasingly, the causes of such phenomena remain hidden from the eyes of non-specialists, which makes them potentially dangerous - kimberlites, like tornadoes, are not visible (there are special modern methods of working out not only with light and photo filters, but also on a PC, 32-bit digital digital processes - site author).
For the environment, open-pit mining of uranium can pose a danger due to radioactive dust entrainment (especially from dumps). Changes in landscapes, disturbance and changes in vegetation cover, and adverse effects on local fauna are the inevitable consequences of open-pit mining. In the mine - leaching of hazardous components by underground water (including springs, underground and above-ground rivers, Donetsk).
A feature of modern kimberlites since 1969 is that the production capacity of the quarries has reached the third, lower - karst level of flooding by groundwater and rivers, incl. poisonous and radioactive (dangerous fumes and volcanoes). Contamination of surface and groundwater (including karst) waters often gives rise to problems, especially when using leaching liquids during extraction by solution and draining liquids during hydraulic development (including when there is a source of spontaneous influx of water into the quarry - atmospheric precipitation, surface waters such as rivers and lakes and karst outlets of groundwater and rivers, the most dangerous).
Currently, it is the second largest man-made crater in the world. This mine is located in Russia, near the city of Mirny. The “world” is so huge that unauthorized visits to the quarry are prohibited (especially of the suicide type), since open-pit mines create a very strong downward flow of air from the caldera (the release of mixed volcanic gases with the influx of water into the quarry). In winter, the temperature in the quarry drops so much that it freezes machine oil and rubber, and leads to the gradual collapse of the quarry. By the time the mine was temporarily closed for examination and reconstruction of the next stage of development (similar to the city of Almaden, Spain, the cinnabar mine - shafts and adits from inside a kimberlite uranium pipe), the time for transport to rise from the bottom of the quarry to the surface reached 1.5-2 hours.
Dangerous photo of kimberlite, misleading - the bottom is not visible, but the structure of the upper walls is visible
Dangerous color of kimberlite (red outcrops) - similar to the “Femiston Open” type (Calgory Super Pit, Australia)
Modern computer processing of the author according to the “wet kimberlite” type - PC computer (color separation)
The most dangerous hallucinations on kimberlites - the bottom of the pipe is not visible, PC computer simulation of the site’s author
This image does not exist - it is generated by the human brain in an extreme situation of affect
The author of the site obtains such images using his own algorithms on a PC computer (32-bit)
Without such images of brain simulation, work on kimberlites of hazard level III is prohibited
Possible hallucinations and color distortions perception of the Mir kimberlite pipe (Yakutia, Sakha, Russian Federation)
palette of perception of kimberlite "Mir" tubes human senses (author, 2014)
Possible road hallucinations on road- color distortion of road abstraction kimberlite type
palettes of biological perception by human senses road abstraction
Modeling kimberlite phase trajectories of planetary movement - the paths of drivers on kimberlite
A scheme for correlating the movements of planets in the starry sky and drivers on kimberlite helps to avoid accidents
types of biological perception by human senses complex computer model
Kimberlite pipe "Mir" (bottom), Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russian Federation. Photo: Sergey Karpukhin
Original survey of the bottom of a kimberlite pipe, Mirny, Siberia (RF), depth 525 m, diameter - 1.25 km
Uranium kimberlite and diamond pipe "Mir" - Russia, Mirny (development started in 1957)
Formation of a cascade of highly mineralized waters at the bottom of the Mir kimberlite mine (radiation)
Below, on the penultimate tier (at the bottom) pronounced karst formations and caves are visible
The beginning of the flooding of the ultra-deep quarry "Mir" according to the karst type - kimberlite waters.
Mining depth - 525 m (more than 340 m), upper diameter - 1200 m (exceeds 890 m), water
The quarry, the development of which began in 1957, until its closure in 2011, incidentally produced up to 10 million carats of diamonds per year. "Mir" was sadly closed in 1989 due to the wild conditions of the racketeering working in the field, fugitive prostitutes of all sorts and prisoners from various prisons (including from the city of Almaden, Spain, from forced labor on cinnabar, instead of intellectual and palette work, as well as a refusal to acknowledge that uranium is real, uranium is more expensive) - those who want to profit from radioactive diamonds (Ukraine prohibits their import, cutting, insertion into products and sale, the radiation level is from 99 milliroentgen/hour, only for closed museums, they cause cancer). In 2014, the mine went bankrupt - conflicts with workers were not resolved and there were no examinations, incl. production hazards.
Minimum set of special designations for the transportation of goods from kimberlite deposits
maximum - III (highest) hazard category - karst kimberlite groundwater outcrops
The beginning of complex work at the mining and processing plant and the kimberlite deposit "Mir Quarry" - 1957-2001.
Kimberlite pipe "Udachnaya", Republic of Sakha, Russia (RF). The depth of "Udachnaya" reaches more than 600 meters (ultra-deep and life-threatening - near-batholithic), although it is not as wide as "Mir". Discovered a little later than Mir, Udachnaya is so remote from civilization that the project built its own small town for the mine workers, named after the deposit. In 2010, the developers stole the technology of underground mines such as red cinnabar in Almaden, Spain (West EU) and went bankrupt in 2014 - the kimberlite pipe partially changed (expanded) the type of mining at the mine to underground, incl. similar to the red cinnabar mine "Khaidarkan" (Fergana Valley, Kyrgyzstan, CIS - the oldest mine, mining at a depth of up to 400 m in adits), since open pit mining was suspended for examination of the rock output and dumps (radioactive, over 100 milliroentgen/hour). The kimberlite pipe has been developed since 1982.
A zone of gas release has been identified (a rise at the bottom of the quarry). The Udachnaya pipe is a deposit in the north of Yakutia. Located 20 kilometers from the Arctic Circle, in the Daldyn-Alakit kimberlite field. Work in this quarry has been carried out by open-pit mining since 1982, like the Mir pipe, the quarry has reached a depth below which ore can be extracted by underground mine workings (gas blowing, flooding). 66 o 26 "8.27" N, 112 o 19 "1.90".
Kimberlite pipe "Udachnaya" - karst bottom flooding, danger level III, Yakutia (RF)
Depth 530 m (more than 340 m - karst type), length - 1700 m, and diamonds are not mineral deposits (C)
Kimberlite has reached the third - maximum danger level - volcanic ash (bottom left)
In contrast to the round Mir kimberlite (above), the bottom of the Udachnaya kimberlite resembles a heart
Inadmissible digital photo of kimberlite is in progress - to identify the correct structure of roads
modern PC computer line processing of the author is used - “Desert” (“Vardanes”)
Computer tricks of the site’s author to show hidden (invisible to the eye) gray roads
Kimberlite pipe "Udachnaya", Republic of Sakha, Russia (RF), depth 600 m, crater diameter - 900 m
The Siberian Platform of the Russian Federation is one of the largest ancient (pre-Riphean) platforms located in the middle part of Northern Asia of the Russian Federation. The western border of the platform coincides with the river valley. Yenisei; northern - with the southern edge of the Byrranga mountains, eastern - with the lower reaches of the river. Lena (Verkhoyansk marginal trough), in the south-east. the border approaches the southern tip of the ridge. Dzhugjur; in the south it runs along faults along the southern edge of the Stanovoy and Yablonevoy ridges; then, bending around from the north along the complex fault system of Transbaikalia and Pribaikalia, it descends to the southern tip of the lake. Baikal, the southwestern border of the platform extends along the Main East Sayan Fault.
Village of a geological exploration party searching for deposits of the USSR, Sakha (Yakutia), 1950, 20th century.
The structure of the Siberian Platform of the Russian Federation is distinguished by an Archean-Proterozoic folded crystalline foundation and a sedimentary Riphean-Phanerozoic cover quietly lying on it. The foundation protrudes to the surface in the north (Anabar massif and Olenek uplift), south-east. (Aldan shield) and in the south-west. (Baikal and East Sayan marginal uplifts and Kansky ledge); on the rest of the territory of the Siberian Platform, the foundation is covered by a cover of sedimentary deposits up to 10-12 km thick and is divided into a system of geo-tectonic blocks descended to different depths (horst-fault tertiary structures are the most dangerous).
The total thickness of the earth's crust (up to the Mohorovichichi surface) varies from 25-30 km (in the Vilyui and Tunguska syneclises of the Russian Federation) to 40-45 km (on the Aldan shield and in the marginal uplifts of the basement in the south). The Aldan shield and the Anabar massif of the Russian Federation, separated under the cover of the sedimentary cover by the Urik-Vilyui Late Precambrian aulacogen of the Russian Federation, form the Eastern megablock of the basement of the Siberian Platform of the Russian Federation. The structure of the basement involves highly metamorphosed Archean and Proterozoic crystalline rocks folded into folds (gneisses, crystalline schists, amphibolites, charnockites, marbles, etc.), the absolute age of which ranges from 2.3 (Anabar massif of the Russian Federation) to 3.7 (Kan ledge RF) billion years.
Kimberlite is a complex hybrid (complex) rock in which minerals formed under different thermodynamic conditions are combined like a “solid” tornado (or a funnel of water in a river or ocean). Kimberlite breccias contain fragments of sedimentary rocks of the cover and crystalline rocks of the basement, as well as xenoliths of deep mantle rocks. The bulk of the rock cementing these fragments has an uneven-grained structure. It turns out that the rocks of the upper part of the earth's crust are tornadoed according to the type of tornado-like movement of air in the atmosphere - the capture and distribution of rocks in accordance with a tornado (thrombus, tornado), they also move.
Kimberlite pipe "Mir", "Udachnaya" for the phenomenon of an "inferno" type atmosphere (left), a special
computer processing of the author PC computer atmosphere, imitation of kimberlite - cement mining (right)
The author’s special method for studying the phenomena of the atmosphere and rocks, the author’s development of the site
For those interested in mixer kimberlites - in the author's development
During the breakdown of the lithosphere (primary meteorites), the brown primary rock of the lithospheric plates is captured
and its involvement in the process of rotation with the release of volcanic gases of magma (sublimating spinels - diamonds)
Special author's processing of tornadoes (negative images and line processing), PC
Hypothetical representation of a kimberlite pipe by image - "view from the earth's crust" (atmosphere)
The rotation and movement of kimberlite pipes is like a tornado, leaving traces behind them - failures
Soil movement and underwater waters continues, and the tendency for new depressions to form in the ground is only increasing. The primary task of geologists and geophysicists remains to find out the reasons for their occurrence (tornadoing) and prevent possible tragedies that can be caused by carelessness and illiteracy in kimberlites. However, putting aside prejudices, we can say that nature fascinates with the manifestation of its power. Even if this power is destructive for humans (kimberlite palettes).
Photo of a tornado from space, the type of tornado that forms kimberlite pipes (including those with breakdown)
meteorites of the primary lithosphere, red-brown ferruginous elements - up to magma)
Computer development by the author of the image of the structure of an atmospheric tornado in the negative
The photo simulates the “entrance to a tornado” (hypothetically Almaden, Spain, EU)
In Yakutia, near the city of Mirny, there is the largest diamond quarry in the world by total volume - the Mir kimberlite pipe (the city of Mirny appeared after the discovery of the pipe and was named in its honor).
The quarry has a depth of 525 meters and a diameter of 1.2 kilometers.
What is kimberlite?
The formation of a kimberlite pipe occurs during a volcanic eruption, when through earth's crust gases from the depths of the earth burst out. The shape of such a tube resembles a funnel or glass. A volcanic explosion removes kimberlite, a rock that sometimes contains diamonds, from the depths of the Earth. The breed is named after the city of Kimberley in South Africa, where an 85-carat (16.7 gram) diamond was found in 1871, sparking the Diamond Rush.
On June 13, 1955, geologists searching for a kimberlite pipe in Yakutia saw a tall larch tree whose roots had been exposed by a landslide. The fox dug a deep hole under it. Based on the characteristic bluish color of the soil scattered by the fox, geologists realized that it was kimberlite. A coded radiogram was immediately sent to Moscow: “We lit a peace pipe, the tobacco is excellent”. Soon after 2800 km. off-road, convoys of vehicles flocked to the site of the discovery of the kimberlite pipe. The working village of Mirny grew up around the diamond deposit; now it is a city with a population of about 36 thousand people.
The development of the field took place in extremely difficult climatic conditions. To break through the permafrost, it had to be blown up with dynamite.
In the 1960s, 2 kg were already produced here. diamonds per year, of which 20% were of jewelry quality and, after cutting and turning into diamonds, could be supplied to a jewelry salon. The remaining 80% of diamonds were used for industrial purposes.
The South African company De Beers was concerned about the rapid development of Mir, which was forced to buy Soviet diamonds in order to control prices on the world market. The management of De Beers agreed on the arrival of its delegation in Mirny. The leadership of the USSR agreed to this on the condition that Soviet specialists would visit diamond quarries in South Africa.
A De Beers delegation arrived in Moscow in 1976 to fly to Mirny, but the South African guests were deliberately delayed by endless meetings and banquets in Moscow, so when the delegation finally reached Mirny, they had only 20 minutes to inspect the quarry.
However, South African experts were still amazed by what they saw, for example, by the fact that the Russians did not use water when processing ore. Although this is understandable: after all, 7 months a year in Mirny there is sub-zero temperature and therefore the use of water is simply impossible.
Between 1957 and 2001, the Mir quarry produced $17 billion worth of diamonds. Over the years, the quarry expanded so much that trucks had to travel 8 km along a spiral road. from bottom to surface.
The Russian company ALROSA, which owns the Mir quarry, stopped open-pit ore mining in 2001 because this method has become dangerous and ineffective. Scientists have found that diamonds lie at a depth of more than 1 km, and at such a depth, it is not a quarry that is suitable for mining, but an underground mine, which, according to the plan, will reach its design capacity of one million tons of ore per year already in 2012. In total, the development of the field is planned for another 34 years.
By the way, on the official website of Alrosa, there is a very impressive video about how diamonds are mined. Here it is:
Fun fact: Helicopters are strictly prohibited from flying over the quarry, because a huge funnel sucks aircraft into itself. The high walls of the quarry are fraught with danger not only for helicopters: there is a threat of landslides, and one day the quarry may swallow the surrounding, including built-up, areas.
Kimberlite pipes from which diamonds are mined are the result of eruptions underground volcanoes that occurred millions of years ago. Under the influence of high temperatures and enormous pressure, carbon received a strong crystal lattice and turned into a gemstone. Subsequently, the discovery of this property made it possible to establish the production of artificial diamonds. But natural stones, of course, are much more valuable.
The photo shows a view of the main quarry of the Udachny mining and processing plant - “Udachny”. Mining operations at the deposit of the same name began in 1971, and over the past 25 years the plant has been a leading enterprise in the Russian diamond mining industry and one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. In 2010, the Udachny Mining and Processing Plant accounted for 33.8% of diamond production in value terms and 12.5% of mining operations out of the total volume of the Alrosa group.
First large-scale industrial production The diamond industry began in southern Africa about a hundred years ago. In Russia, kimberlite pipes were discovered only in the middle of the last century - in Yakutia. This discovery laid the foundation for Alrosa, today the world leader in diamond mining. Thus, the company’s forecast reserves are about a third of the world’s total, and the explored reserves are sufficient to maintain the current level of production for 25 years without reducing the quality of raw materials. In numbers, the diamond reserves at the deposits owned by Alrosa amount (according to data published in May 2011) to 1.23 billion carats according to the Russian classification (1.014 billion proven and 0.211 billion probable).
For the last five years, the company has annually allocated from 2.5 to 3.5 billion rubles for geological exploration. In 2011, geological exploration costs amounted to about 4 billion rubles, and in 2012 it is planned to allocate over 5.36 billion rubles for these purposes.
At its fields, Alrosa produces about 35 million carats of diamonds per year, being the world's largest producer of this raw material in physical terms: it accounts for about 97% of Russian production and 25% of global production. At the same time, the diamond content in the ore of kimberlite pipes is traditionally low - usually several carats per ton. The Yakut deposits are advantageous in this regard, and are considered one of the richest in content.
In 2010, Alrosa's sales volume of diamonds and rough diamonds amounted to $3.48 billion, and in 2011, according to preliminary data, the company sold $5 billion worth of products - a record figure in its entire history. The company's revenue in the first half of 2011 according to IFRS amounted to 66.15 billion rubles. (+3% compared to the previous year), and net profit increased five times to 26.27 billion.
Kimberlite pipes have the shape of a cone, expanding upward, so their development usually begins with open-pit mining. The design depth of the Udachny quarry, shown in these photographs, is 600 m. To rise from the bottom of the quarry to the surface, the dump truck travels along a serpentine road about 10 km long.
And this is how mining is carried out in quarries. The drilling rig makes a hole into which the explosive is placed (the photo shows the laying process). By the way, although diamond is the hardest mineral, it is quite fragile. Therefore, during blasting operations, gentle technologies are used to preserve the integrity of the crystals as much as possible. After the explosion, the rock fragments are loaded into dump trucks and transported to the processing plant.
The company's main enterprises are located in Western Yakutia, on the territory of four regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) - Mirninsky, Lensky, Anabarsky, Nyurba - in one of the most severe regions of the planet, with a sharply continental climate, a large temperature difference, in the permafrost zone. In Udachny, winter lasts up to 8 months, the temperature in winter sometimes drops to -60 C. Therefore, most of the equipment is made to order - these are machines adapted to work in low temperature conditions. As a result, work at the fields is underway all year round in any weather conditions. In quarry work simultaneously involved a large number of equipment – wheel loaders, dump trucks, excavators. There are only about 300 heavy-duty dump trucks in the Alrosa fleet, with a carrying capacity from 40 to 136 tons - mostly BelAZ, there are also Cat and Komatsu.
After reaching a certain depth, reserves within the quarry are exhausted, and open-pit mining becomes unprofitable. On average, quarries are developed to a depth of about 600 m. However, kimberlite pipes lie underground to a depth of 1.5 km. A mine is being built for further development. Underground mining is more expensive than open-pit mining, but it is the only cost-effective way to reach deep-seated reserves. In the future, Alrosa plans to significantly increase the share of underground diamond mining. The company is now completing open-pit mining of the Udachny quarry and, in parallel, is constructing an underground mine. It is expected to launch in 2014.
The cost of switching to underground diamond mining is estimated at $3–4 billion, but in the future this should lead to cost reductions. Largely due to the construction of underground mines, Alrosa’s debt by the acute phase of the crisis in 2008 increased by 64% to 134.4 billion rubles. But the state did not leave the company in trouble: it was included in the list of systemically important enterprises, non-core gas assets were bought by VTB for $620 million, and when the demand for diamonds fell, Gokhran began to buy Alrosa’s products.
When you hear the word “diamond mines,” you involuntarily imagine a beautiful picture: a cave, within the walls of which precious stones shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow. In fact, a diamond mine is not the most romantic place on the ground. The walls do not sparkle with a diamond shine, and looking at the ore, it is generally difficult to imagine that the future “best friends of girls” are hidden in it. The photo shows workers in one of the ventilation horizontal openings of the future underground mine, depth - 380 meters.
The construction of mines takes place in unique mining and geological conditions. In addition to permafrost, it is complicated by aggressive groundwater, which, due to high mineralization, can not only erode the walls of mine workings, but also corrode (!) tires of dump trucks. In addition, at Alrosa’s fields there are bitumen and oil shows, which also complicate diamond mining.
In parallel, construction of ground-based facilities of the future mine is underway - for example, ventilation and heating units. The Udachny underground mine will become one of the largest in the world - its productivity is expected to be 4 million tons of ore per year. This is not the company’s first underground mine: since 1999, Alrosa has been working at the Internatsionalny mine. In addition, in August 2009, the company commissioned the Mir underground mine. When all mines reach full capacity, the share of underground mining in Alrosa's total operations is expected to rise to 40%. In total, in Russia the company mines diamonds at 9 primary and 10 alluvial deposits located in Yakutia and Arkhangelsk region. In addition, the company owns the Catoca diamond mining enterprise in Angola, together with the local state-owned company Endiama.
What will underground mining at Udachny look like in 2-3 years? For example, here is a photograph of the already operating Mir mine. The extraction of diamond ore underground is carried out mainly by combine mining (pictured). The company's specialists are also studying the possibility of using blasthole blasting, traditional for mining - when the rock is destroyed with explosives placed in drilled holes. Then the scheme is the same: loading machines pick up the ore and transport it to the surface, from where it goes to the processing plant. Now we will go there too.
The initial stage of beneficiation of diamond ore looks the same as for any other mineral. Initially, the factory receives large pieces of rock up to several meters in size. After coarse crushing in jaw or cone crushers, the ore is fed to wet autogenous grinding mills (pictured), where rock fragments up to 1.5 m in size are crushed to a size of 0.5 m or less using water.
The controlling stake in Alrosa (51%) is federally owned (from 2006 to 2008, 10% of this stake belonged to VTB), 32% of the shares belong to the government of Yakutia, 8% are controlled by the uluses of this federal subject. In April 2011, the company was transformed from a closed joint stock company to an open joint stock company in order to be able to raise funds on the market. Since the middle of last year, Alrosa shares have been traded on Russian exchanges, but the volume of transactions on them is small due to low liquidity (only shares of minority shareholders were listed on the exchange). In the fall of 2011, Nafta-Moscow of Suleiman Kerimov became a shareholder of Alrosa and bought about 1% of the company’s shares on the market.
At the next stage, spiral classifiers separate the raw materials depending on their density and size. The operating principle is very simple. Water picks up small particles and carries them down the drain. Large particles (up to several centimeters in size) can no longer be carried away by water - they settle in the lower part of the tank, after which the spiral lifts them to the top.
Now we need to somehow isolate diamonds from small pieces of ore obtained after crushing. Medium-sized pieces of ore are sent to jigging machines and to heavy-medium concentration: under the influence of water pulsation, diamond crystals are isolated and settle as a heavy fraction. The fine “powder” passes through pneumatic flotation, during which, interacting with reagents, small diamond crystals adhere to the foam bubbles.
At the next stage, all raw materials will go through the main procedure - X-ray luminescent separation (RLS).
It’s just not possible to show what happens inside the separator during its operation: the radar principle is based on constant x-ray radiation. Looking inside while the separator is operating is, to put it mildly, unsafe. If described in words, the method is based on the unique property of diamond - it is the only mineral that luminesces in X-rays. Crushed ore, irradiated with X-rays, constantly moves along the conveyor belt inside the separator. As soon as a diamond enters the irradiation zone, photocells detect the luminescent flash and the air flow “knocks out” the sparkling fragment into a separate tank.
Of course, the air flow inside the separator cannot separate just one small crystal - a certain amount of waste rock is also sifted out along with it. In fact, the entire process of ore beneficiation is aimed only at minimizing the amount of this “empty” material and then facilitating manual processing. Moreover, “manual” in the literal sense of the word: specialists select crystals, clean them and carry out the so-called “final finishing”. No matter how popular the desire to automate all production processes is now, it is absolutely impossible to do without the human factor in diamond mining. The number of employees of the company (as of December 2010) is more than 31,000 people.
But whose hands were these?
One way or another, it was under Fedor Andreev that Alrosa began to prepare for an IPO, and the company was included in the privatization program for 2012–2013. She is currently awaiting a government decision on the parameters and timing of privatization. Representatives of Yakutia stated that the republic sees no obstacles to the privatization of part of the package, but insists that control should remain with the state. Recently, the shareholders agreed that only 14% of shares will be sold on the market (7% each from the Federal Property Management Agency and the Ministry of Property of Yakutia), for which it is planned to earn about $1 billion. Presumably, the placement will take place in the fall of 2012 or spring of 2013 on the MICEX-RTS.
From the final finishing shop, all rough diamonds are sent to the Sorting Center in Mirny. Here, raw materials are divided into main groups and given an initial assessment, after which they can be sent for sale through the Alrosa Unified Sales Organization.
By the way, about half of Alrosa’s products are sold outside of Russia. Until recently, the company sold its diamonds to the world market using the services of the monopolist De Beers. However, at the beginning of 2009, they stopped cooperation and Alrosa began reorganizing its sales system, providing for sales under direct contracts and an equal approach to foreign and Russian buyers, developed its customer base and introduced the practice of “long” contracts.
In general, raw materials from each of the deposits have their own distinctive characteristics. Experienced experts, when looking at a diamond, can determine which mine it came from. But this only applies to general signs. No two diamonds are alike. Therefore, there are no organized exchange trades in diamonds, for example, like gold or copper - this is not a standardized product, each stone has unique characteristics.
This uniqueness significantly complicates both sorting and evaluation. When assessing, experts take three characteristics as a basis: size, color and purity (absence of inclusions inside, transparency). The most expensive stones are “ clean water", absolutely transparent and without a pronounced color. Each of the characteristics has different gradations. As a result, depending on size, color and other parameters, there are about 8,000 possible positions of rough diamonds.
