Tube world from space. Diamond quarry “Mir” in Yakutia. History of the Mir kimberlite pipe
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.
Characteristics of various fields. - From one deposit to the next, some characteristics of the stone, crystal habit, color, average size change. For this latter property the Indian deposits were considered to be rich in large stones; however, current production mainly consists of small diamonds. In Brazil, small or very small diamonds of four carats or less predominate; scales between a quarter and a half carat are relatively common, and stones between one and six carats are rare.
In southern Africa, large crystals are more common than in all other deposits, and for the Dutoitspan mine in particular, stones of ten carats and above account for 17.1% of the mine's total production; the percentage is much lower. Origin of the diamond. - The problem of the origin of diamond is very complex, also due to the fact that the stone is found in the parent rock only in some deposits in southern Africa and in very few others. On the other hand, it can be reasonably assumed that elsewhere it was originally located in rocks that are fundamentally different from kimberlite and therefore of different genesis, although the hypotheses issued about their origin are very numerous, although they are usually almost entirely arbitrary.
"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.
Goldschmidt, 000 atmospheres. After the formation of the diamond, an eruptive explosive event would occur, which would lead to the formation of smokestacks; due to the rapid drop in temperature, preventing the transformation of diamond into graphite. The ascent of the kimberlite in the chimneys would have occurred by successive shocks, justifying the brecciated structure of the rock and the frequent disturbance of the diamonds. This explanation, as well as for the African deposits, could also apply to some of the Brazilian ones, which along Tibagi, belong to kimberlite rocks; for other cases, a pegmatite origin and even even aqueous solutions were assumed.
The name of this substance comes from the name of the South African city of Kimberley. A diamond weighing almost 17 grams was discovered there in 1871, as a result of which prospectors and adventurers from all over the world poured into the 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” by digging 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.
However, these hypotheses, even if plausible, have too weak a basis for acceptance. The Belgian Congo and South West Africa also recorded notable productions this year. In this diamond center, the extraction processes are marked by the greatest technical development. In secondary reservoirs, the gemstone is obtained by a conventional mechanical separation agent based on the significant difference in specific gravity between the diamond and most of the minerals that accompany it; in enriched material, sorting is primarily done.
A coded radiogram was immediately sent to Moscow: “We lit the pipe of peace, 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!
Currently, excavation work is being carried out in the tunnel: the excavated material is taken into boreholes and lifted to the surface with freight elevators. From here, always with mechanical means, it is transported to the distribution floors, large extensions open land, where it is exposed to atmospheric agents until it disintegrates; sometimes, instead of being exposed, the material is crushed and ground in rotating mills. The material is then washed in centrifugal cylinders so that all diamonds present are concentrated into a residue and placed on pulsating or pulsating tables for further concentration.
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.
“City of the Future”: dreams or reality?
The concentrate is in turn passed through other pulsators coated with grease or petroleum jelly so that the diamonds are preserved and the heavier material is released and sorting is done automatically. The Premier Mine also introduced the Elmore metal ore separation process, which uses water and oil to preserve different minerals while separating them by centrifugation. The diamonds released are usually traded in London, the main market for crude oil. Recently a syndicate has been created in this area, the London Diamond Syndicate, which, through agreements with the major diamond mines, is able to control the sales of crude oil: the mines are obliged to produce and supply to the union only those quantities required by the market, refraining from overproduction, which will lead to lower prices.
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...
However, since the agreement is only binding on companies that manage deposits on site, this particular rule did not prevent alluvial diamond competition and the subsequent market depression. The processing of rough diamond is carried out by a special industry, based mainly in Amsterdam and Antwerp, but which also exists in Paris, Berlin, Vienna and the Union of South Africa itself, where the government strives to promote its capacity in every possible way.
Diamond cutting is done using methods that are broadly the same as those used for other gemstones, with the exception of some modifications due to the stone's great hardness and easy flaking. This last property allows a rough diamond to be transformed into an octahedron, the starting shape for a brilliant cut. The peeling process is carried out by tracing small depressions on a diamond fixed in a special support using the sharp edge of a second diamond; indentations, a thin metal plate is made to work over them, resulting in the necessary separations resulting in an octahedron.
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.
Mysteries related to the origin of diamonds
The various faces are then bent, fixed on suitable supports and in the desired position, two stones and shaken firmly against each other. The rough stone is then pulled out to be cleaned; at the same time the position of various persons is corrected. To clean, press the stone onto a horizontal metal disk that is rapidly rotating around a vertical axis and moistened with a mixture of olive oil and diamond powder.
This processing method naturally requires skilled workers and a lot of time; Today we tend to replace human work with machines, using circular saws for flaking and roughing, and also using semi-automatic devices: one person can operate several of these machines at the same time.
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 Yakut climatic conditions there is no reason 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. IN dangerous place the city of Mirny stands! The depth of the quarry is such that, if desired, you can even create a miniature sea here.
The cutting shapes used for diamond are exclusively or nearly brilliant and rosette. The shiny form is especially valuable because all properties are valued with it gemstone. In fact, given the high refractive index of diamond, light that enters the stone from above undergoes a series of reflections internally and is pushed upward, emerging due to the strong dispersion separated into iris colors. Recent research has shown with calculation that the proportions between the different parts of a diamond, which have been established empirically over time, are precisely the proportions most suitable for the purpose that the cut suggests.
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).
The trading of processed diamonds and the establishment of relative prices is carried out in special bags, the most important of which is Antwerp. The stock exchange also arose in Milan by price, regardless of the natural fluctuations of the market depending on the quantities produced, fluctuations which the agreements mentioned above tend to reduce, depending essentially on two factors: the quality and thickness of the stone.
As for quality, there are usually three waters: first of all, for example, stones are absolutely colorless, transparent, transparent, without the slightest defect; thirdly, colorless diamonds, but with significant defects or without defects, but with a very sensitive color. The price naturally increases with weight, but much faster than that; Many rules have been developed to express the change in price depending on weight, but these are rules of instantaneous value, which are suitable for opportunistic market conditions and are especially dependent on the type of production at a given time.
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 a unique city of the future in a titanic pit.
It is not true to say that there is a significant difference between the cost of a rough stone and the same stone: during cutting operations the stone loses 50% or even more of its weight, not counting the costs, of course, not indifferent, of processing. Uses. - Diamond is used as well as gemstone for technical purposes. Reduced into powder, used for cutting gemstones; installed in a special support, used for cutting glass; it serves to form the teeth of diamond saws for cutting stones and the tip of many tools for milling, planing, turning or very hard materials; it garnishes the heads of drilling machines and is finally used to make long-lasting dies and precision, even when used for laying very strong metal wires.
“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!
In general, bead and carbonado or stones that are not suitable for cutting are used in technical purposes. Gemstones of less value, such as topazes, sapphires, hyacinths, naturally colorless or reduced to such art, are often omitted for diamonds; In general, a particular joint weight test, if it produces duplicate results, with one of the hardnesses, is sufficient for recognition of difficulty. The lower rigidity also makes glass counterfeits easy to spot, sometimes closely mimicking the appearance of a gemstone.
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 is enough 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.
What is kimberlite?
Famous diamonds. - Many diamonds, both in their thickness and in their beauty, have acquired an excellent reputation. We have mentioned below the most famous ones. Among the most famous Indian diamonds is worth remembering. Great Mogul, 280 carats, carved in the form of a very tall rosette: in the mid-seventeenth century it was seen that from Tavernier to the court of the Great Mogul, Aurangzeb, no other news.
Then you can mention Sancy, Shah, Nizam, Nassak and among the colored diamonds - blue Hope, of 45.5 carats metric, green Dresden diamond, of carats. Summary. - Attempts to synthesize diamond are numerous. We will mention only the main ones. Instead, Bolton resorted to decomposing hydrocarbons using mercury vapor or amalgam.
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.
He recently repeated most experiments carried out by various researchers, but concluded that many of the supposed positive results should be considered not to have a serious basis. and the identification of verified diamonds would be the result of incomplete or inaccurate observations, only Marsden and Moisan actually reproducing the mineral. In any case, the problem of diamond synthesis can be considered from a scientific point of view; in practice, however, both for extremely low crystallinity, resulting in both complexity and high cost of procedures, the methods are not applicable.
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. In addition to solar panels, the effectiveness of which is still quite questionable (plus installation difficulties), some engineers offer 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? Diamond quarry It became dangerous to mine in the 1990s, when the mine 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.
Feb 10, 2009
Kimberlite pipe‘Mir’ is a quarry located in the city of Mirny, Yakutia. 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. Mining of diamond-bearing kimberlite ore ceased in June 2001. Currently, an underground mine of the same name is being built on board the quarry to develop the remaining sub-quarry reserves, the extraction of which by open pit mining is unprofitable.
The kimberlite pipe was discovered on June 13, 1955 by geologists of the Amakinsk expedition Yu. I. Khabardin, E. N. Elagina and V. P. Avdeenko. The famous radiogram they transmitted to the leadership of the expedition about the discovery of kimberlite was coded:
Lighted a peace pipe zpt tobacco excellent dot Avdeenko zpt Elagina zpt Khabardin dot
In 1957, open-pit diamond mining began and continued until June 2001. The village of Mirny was formed near the quarry, which became the center of the Soviet diamond mining industry. The largest diamond found in Russia was mined at the Mir mine on December 23, 1980. It weighs 342.5 carats (more than 68 g) and is called “XXVI Congress of the CPSU”. IN last years mining trucks were driven along a spiral road 8 km from the bottom to the surface.
During its work, the quarry was reconstructed 3 times, a unique grouting curtain was created that prevented the entry of aggressive brines from the Metegero-Ichersky aquifer complex, as well as a drainage system for 32,250 m3 of water per day (about 1 million m3 per month). Geological exploration has shown that the depth of diamonds exceeds a kilometer, so currently the ALROSA company, which is developing the deposit, is building an underground mine at the deposit. For the construction of an underground mine and future safe mining of the upper underground horizons, the bottom of the mothballed quarry was covered with a special protective layer of rock. This “cushion”, or “pillar”, is not susceptible to burst pressure, its thickness is 45 meters.
Over the years of development using the open-pit (quarry) method, diamonds were extracted from the deposit, according to unofficial data, worth $17 billion, and about 350 million cubic meters were exported. m of rock.
For the discovery of the Mir tube Yu.I. Khabardin was awarded the Lenin Prize, E.N. Elagina was awarded a diploma and a diploma “Discoverer of the Deposit”, and also became an honorary citizen of the city of Mirny.
