Discover the world's second largest giant diamond mine

In the years when the prosperous Soviet Union conducted a diamond mining 'Mir' created a huge excavation pit hundreds of hectares. This diamond mine still attracts the curiosity of adventurous travelers.

The 'Mir' or 'Mirny' mine has a big hole due to the diamond mining process. The mine is located in Mirny, Eastern Siberia, Russia. In 2004 the mine was officially closed and no longer operated, there is now a large pit with a depth of 525 meters and a diameter of 1200 meters. This is considered the second largest pit in the world after the Bingham Canyon pit.

The diamond mining process began in 1957 under difficult conditions and extremely harsh weather. Winter in Siberia lasts up to 7 months and the earth often has a lot of snow and ice, which makes the exploitation process difficult. In the summer months, snow-covered areas now melt into water, making the ground turn into mud.

The temperature in the Siberian winter dropped so low that the tires of the car or the steering wheel were too ineffective, the grease was frozen hard. During the winter days, the workers used jet engines to penetrate thick and hard ice or use explosives to get access to the underlying magma rock. At night, covered mining equipment to avoid machine death, freezing machines .

In the peak years of mining production, Mir mine is estimated to supply more than 10 million carats of diamonds each year, of which 20% are precious stones.

After the Soviet Union was in crisis and collapsed in the 1990s, Mir's mine was later operated by a number of local companies, but until 2004, the mine was officially closed permanently. . Currently, this diamond mine only attracts theater enthusiasts and adventurers.