Where is the quarry world located? The city of Mirny (Yakutia): diamond quarry. History, description, photo. “City of the Future”: dreams or reality

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

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  • - 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 in her honor). 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.

It was known in India from ancient times, while in the West it was known, apparently, only after the expeditions of Alexander, but for this, as for many other gems mentioned in old texts, it is unclear whether the stone is known to the ancients , correspond to all ours: therefore some of the six types described by Pliny and some varieties remembered by other authors are, of course, not diamonds.

The result of the experience of the two scholars is that the diamond, which is so valued by everyone, is so temperamental that no power sifts to tame it, resists less than other precious stones the violence of this fire. For where others consume little, or are consumed, this one “exhales everything.”

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).

Since identical results were obtained by experiments with coal, he concluded that the diamond was made from a substance having the highest analogy to carbon. Soon after, Tennant determined that the amount of carbon dioxide produced by burning a certain weight of diamond and the same weight of pure carbon was equal, and concluded that the diamond itself was carbon.

Chemical, morphological and physical properties; diversity. - In addition to carbon dioxide, burning diamond also produces variable amounts, usually extremely small, of ash: mainly from silicon oxide and iron oxide and in smaller quantities from limestone, magnesia and sometimes titanium.

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.

Interesting facts about the kimberlite pipe

Diamond is impervious to most of the most energetic chemicals. When it gets very hot in air, or better yet, in oxygen, it burns. The lattice symmetry is monometric holohedric, that is, single monomeric anti-epidemic atomic fields; the regular parallel repetition of these atomic groups gives a cubic lattice of centered faces.

Diamond crystals often follow holohedral symmetry, but there are also frequent references to hemedhedral, and this is due to the type of structure mentioned above: the most common shapes are octahedron, hexacysotahedron, cube, rhombic dodecahedron, tetracydahedron, as well as hexacystetrahedron; assuming, as many believe, that diamond belongs to the class of esacitetrahedra, some of these shapes should be considered as associations of two corresponding conjugate shapes.

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). Landscape changes, disturbance and change of vegetation cover, 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).

These octahedral crystals, which are indentations along the edges of the octahedron, are considered to be one of the twins of two twist-plane tetrahedra; others, on the other hand, consider the above cavities to be due to corrosion. Inclusions, sometimes present, are solid, liquid or gaseous.

The solid inclusions sometimes appear to be carbonaceous matter, sometimes oligist or d'ilmenite; also included inclusions of quartz, topaz, pyrite, and finally the diamond itself, different in shape or color from the host, and in many cases the nature of the inclusions could not be determined with certainty. the liquid inclusions, sometimes with a level, are liquid carbon dioxide or even aqueous and aqueous saline solutions. Diamond is monorefractory, but it is unusual for it to exhibit abnormal bifiding. The consequence of the high refractive index is a strong and special shine, precisely called adamantine, which the stone shows, especially if its surfaces are well polished.

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).

When did open-pit mining cease?

Due to their significant scattering power, diamonds, especially when cut to brilliant quality, break up the light that enters them and send it back separated by the colors of the iris. Transparency is ideal in clear diamonds and naturally shiny faces or visualized with and the absence of color is also absolute in them, but most stones have a more or less intense color, which usually significantly reduces the significant value, in particular, Brazilian diamonds are often light -greenish color, yellowish-African ones are also found, but in extremely rare cases - diamonds of blue, yellow, pink, green, very expensive and very expensive.

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.

The phenomena of luminescence are very clearly provoked by various actions. phosphorescence, which can cause exposure to sunlight in a diamond. This phenomenon can be more easily provoked by mechanical actions, as in comparison. Fast and vibrant phosphorescence is obtained with radioactive substances; cathode rays create a beautiful heavenly, yellow or greenish luminescence, and with X-rays the same phenomena are observed, but less intense.

The light emission caused by ultraviolet radiation is mostly weak or very weak. The average specific gravity, for a pure diamond without inclusions, is 3.52: variations from one stone to another are always very small. Hardness 10; Australian and Borneo diamonds seem to have slightly higher hardness than others. Good heat conduction, cold to the touch. The heat capacity is unusually low. The maximum density is -39°. The heat of combustion is given in 430 calories. It is positively electrified by comparison both in the raw state and in cut stones, but the acquired electricity is retained only for a short time.






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)

Besides the true diamond, two other varieties are known that are in some respects very different from it: they are usually called bead and carbonado. The bead is found in all diamond deposits in the form of spheres with a fibrous-radial structure with a rough, opaque gray-white surface; more often it is found in irregular fragments formed by the association of a large number of very small crystals. The hardness is almost the same as that of diamond in crystals, the specific gravity is slightly higher in the spherolitic variety and slightly lower in the Other name also indicates defective diamonds that cannot be used for decorative purposes, and waste from processing.




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

Carbonado carbon is a black, opaque, granular, often porous crystalline structure found exclusively in Brazil: generally it is found in irregular pieces, sometimes also in octahedra, rhombododecas or cubes, the specific gravity is lower than that of ordinary diamond, varying from 3 to 3.5 , while the hardness is slightly higher.

Deposits. - Diamond has been discovered in small quantities in many countries, but most of these deposits are not of industrial importance; therefore we will mention only those places in which mining has or has had significant development. India. - The most ancient deposits, known, even those that until now produced only diamonds that were sold on the market, are “Indian”. Pliny speaks of the diamonds of India and Ptolemy from the perilous river of that region; Marco Polo says that the gem is located in the kingdom of Mutfili, which corresponds to the territory of modern Masulipatam.


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)

Some terrain problems

The stone is located outside the rock in which it was formed, within conglomerates or sandstones, in the decomposition product of these rocks, or even in river deposits resulting from the water transport of the decomposition product itself: these are always secondary deposits.

Over time, the deposits of the province, the current state of Minas Gera, where four diamond districts are located: Diamantina, Abaete, Bagagem and Grao Mogol, were achieved through production in the state of Bahia. In Brazil there are three types of deposits, depending on each other: fluvial deposits, in the current river bed, below the maximum full level; deposits of terraces, on the sides of valleys, above the maximum level of rivers; mountain deposits. The deposits of the first two types are entirely transported, while the third are in some cases still in situ, in deeply altered rock.


Possible road hallucinations on road- color distortion of road abstraction kimberlite type
palettes of biological perception by human senses road abstraction


In plateau deposits, the diamond mass is a kind of disturbance of neighboring metamorphic rocks, the fragments of which are held together by a clay paste, usually reddish at the surface. In some cases the diamond is instead found in "laminated clay" alternating with known ithacolumite, and in another of "sandstone, which some believe to be ithacolumite itself", finally the Tibagi diamond is associated with stones of the kimberlite type, that is, the same type that is found like the mother of diamond in southern Africa.

Brazilian production in less than two centuries, that is, from the discovery until the entire first decade of the 1900s, amounted to more than fifteen million carats. This case was followed by others, both in Orange and Vaal. For many years, deposits have been much more productive than transport fields.



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

In transport fields, diamond is found both at the bottom of watercourses and in the smallest fragments of siliceous pebbles, and on the side terraces of river valleys the deposits are in place instead of large funnel-shaped cavities that have not yet been deepened, crossing rocks of quarry formation, the Perocarbon era and, at least at least partially, the subject of the formation of the Devonian head. These cavities or diamond chimneys, locally called chimneys, are filled with a special eruptive kimberlite rupture, mica peridotite garnetifera, a partially serpentinized diamond source rock, in the surface parts of the chimneys the kimberlite is altered and yellowish, and below, where it is still fresh, it is blue-green in color, the dimensions of the chimneys, whose horizontal section is rounded, vary, and therefore the Kimberley mine on the surface measures 274 × 164 m, the prime, largest and total, 900 × 600 m; in depth, as a rule, chimneys gradually become smaller.



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 began in 1957)

In the Belgian Congo, in the Katanga province, there are chimneys similar to the orange ones, but poor and extensive sandy diamond deposits, exploited mainly along the Kassai. Finally, there are always diamonds in Africa in southern Rhodesia, in Angola, at noon in Lake Victoria, in Liberia, in the Costa d'Oro.

Borneo deposits were once noted, but production was almost always absorbed locally. Finds from the Urals and various points in the United States of America are practically uninteresting, and it should be remembered that diamond, usually of a similar appearance to carbonado, is sometimes found in meteorites.



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
a modern PC computer was used, computer line processing of the author - “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

The movement of soils and underwater water 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)


Even at the beginning of the 19th century, rumors began to arise about the presence of precious stones in the territory of Yakutia and the western lands bordering it. A number of scientists and geologists pointed out the existence of important similarities in the structure of the Siberian platform with the South African one, where active development of primary diamond deposits was already underway. After the civil war, local historian and teacher Pyotr Starovatov got into a conversation in Kempendyai (Suntar village area) with an old man who told him about his discovery in one of the local rivers - it was a sparkling pebble the size of a pinhead. He sold the find to a merchant for two bottles of vodka, a bag of cereal and five bags of tea. Later, another local resident also said that he found precious stones on the banks of the Kempendijk and Chona rivers.

But only in 1947-1948 (after the Government decree signed by Stalin on intensifying the search for diamonds in the USSR) targeted searches for diamonds began for the first time on the territory of the Siberian Platform. In the fall of 1948, a group of geologists led by G. Fanstein launched prospecting work on the Vilyui and Chona rivers, and on August 7, 1949, the group found the first diamond on the Sokolina sand spit, and subsequently a diamond placer was discovered here. Exploration work in 1950-1953 was also successful - several diamond placers were discovered, and On August 21, 1954, the first kimberlite pipe in the Soviet Union, called Zarnitsa, was discovered.

Kimberlite- igneous rock containing diamonds, often in industrial concentrations. The breed bears the same name as the city of Kimberley in South Africa, where a diamond weighing 85 carats (16.7 g) was found in 1871. The formation of a kimberlite pipe is simplified - a consequence of a volcanic eruption, when gases under enormous temperature and high pressure through the earth's crust burst out from the bowels of the earth. A volcanic explosion brings diamond-bearing rock to the surface. Geologically, the pipe is shaped like a glass or funnel of enormous proportions, giving rise to the characteristic shape of diamond quarries around the world.

Using the unique method of “pyrope survey”, proposed by Natalia Nikolaevna Sarsadskikh (deposit search using pyropes - diamond satellite minerals, excluding lengthy and expensive searches by digging pits “the old fashioned way”) in 1955, 15 primary deposits were discovered, among them the famous “Mir”. Upon the discovery of the deposit, the expedition sent the famous radiogram: “Light a pipe of peace zpt tobacco excellent dot Avdeenko zpt Elagina zpt Khabardin dot.”

The discovery of the deposit became a find of extreme importance for the USSR and one of the largest geological discoveries of the twentieth century. The diamond industry was designed to seriously increase the economic potential of the Soviet Union. Diamond mining on an industrial scale first began at Mir.

Personal impressions from the first meeting with the quarry - it is huge!
Today, the quarry has a depth of 525 meters and a diameter of 1.2 km - and yes, contrary to common misconception, it is not the largest. "Mir" is significantly smaller in size than the "Udachnaya" pipe, discovered in 1955 and located 400 km to the north (its surface size is 1600x2000 meters, depth 640 meters). Nevertheless, Mir’s production volumes are impressive: over the years of open-pit mining, according to unofficial data, $17 billion worth of diamonds were extracted from the deposit, and about 350 million cubic meters of rock were removed.

Panorama.
Clicking on the image will open the original:

Ore mining in the Mir quarry ceased in 2001, and the bottom of the mine was mothballed in preparation for mining the upper underground horizons. Geological exploration showed that the depth of diamonds exceeds 1 kilometer - open-pit mining at such a depth is dangerous and unprofitable, so now ALROSA extracts diamond ore in underground mines.

In the future it should look like this:

The mining equipment memorial on board the quarry, which I climbed onto

In the last years of the Mir development, the BelAZ route along a spiral road from the surface to the bottom was almost 8 kilometers. Now the sides of the quarry are crumbling, the road is maintained in working order only in a small area, up to the pumping stations.

Martian landscape:

A little about water in "The World".
An aquifer passes through the area where the kimberlite pipe is located. The underground “river” created serious difficulties throughout the active development of the quarry, and the “fight” against it continues to this day - now the safety of work at the mine, located in the thickness of the earth, depends on it. Highly mineralized water, having found many outlets, flows in streams to the bottom of the quarry at a speed of over 1000 cubic meters every hour. Now there is a turquoise acid lake splashing here:

During development, Mir was reconstructed three times, a unique grouting curtain was created to prevent the entry of aggressive brines from the Metegero-Ichersky aquifer complex, as well as a drainage system that removes up to 1 million cubic meters of water from the quarry monthly.

To pump out water, several pumping stations are equipped; they are armed with high-performance submersible pumps (4 pumps at each station, the capacity of each pump is over 450 cubic meters per hour). The pumped water is supplied through a pipeline to a man-made lake located outside the city - a reservoir of mineralized water, where a pumping station located on the shore, in turn, pumps the water further - again underground, into a geological fault.

Even during the construction of the underground mine, the bottom of the quarry was covered with a protective layer of rock - this is the so-called “ore pillar”, designed to protect the mine from the onslaught of thousands of cubic meters of water from above. In connection with the active development of the mine, work is underway to make all water inflow manageable. In particular, structures should be launched that intercept water on the upper horizons. Thus, the mine will fully comply with all safety requirements.

Initially, I approached “Mir” through the courtyards on the eastern side. The “tourist” point, where the quarry is mostly filmed, is on the opposite side - near the airport. In principle, it’s not difficult to get there if you know where to go, but in general, this is not a place for hikers. The road is dirt, there is a lot of dust and BelAZ vehicles, after the rain it will most likely become limp to a completely unpleasant state. Along the way, every now and then you come across signs prohibiting passage.