12 June 1955
Geologists discovered the Mir kimberlite pipe, the largest diamond deposit in Yakutia. The settlement of Mirny, which became the country's diamond capital, was founded on the site.
We lit a peace pipe, the tobacco was excellent. (Encrypted radiogram about the discovery of the Mir diamond pipe)
Until then, the Urals had been considered the center of diamond mining. However, after the war, the government set the goal of finding a larger deposit.
Geologists had to work in harsh conditions: they lived in tents or dugouts. There were no topographic maps; they had to make do with hunters' sketches.
The deadlines were tight, the tasks dangerous and risky: they needed to supply the homeland with strategic diamond raw materials. They attempted to trace deposits by so-called pyropes—minerals that accompany diamonds.
We have often made mistakes, and we have had, perhaps, more failures than successes. (Grigory Feinstein, discoverer of Yakut diamonds)
The first kimberlite pipe to be discovered was the Zarnitsa kimberlite pipe, which occurred in 1954. But it was the Mir pipe that began development of the deposit. It was discovered by geologists Yuri Khabardin, Vladimir Avdeenko и Ekaterina ElaginaThey noticed the roots of a larch tree that had been torn out of the ground after a landslide.
The evening sun illuminated the tree's roots. The red pyrope flared and burned like a living drop of blood. (From the memoirs of Elagina)
Initially, diamonds were mined using open-pit mining. This resulted in a quarry 1,5 kilometers in diameter and over 500 meters deep. It is considered one of the largest "holes" on the planet and is visible from space. Helicopters are prohibited here because turbulent eddies pull everything down.
In 1980, the largest diamond weighing 342,5 carats (68 grams) was discovered in Mirny, which was named in honor of the upcoming 26th Congress of the CPSU.
By 2001, 350 million cubic meters of rock containing diamonds worth $17 billion had been removed from the deposit.
Nine people died after the transition to underground mining. Following an accident in 2017, the mine flooded, halting diamond mining. A new mine is being built on the site of the flooded one, with operations scheduled to begin this year.