Diamond tube. The largest quarry in terms of diamond production

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 Vilyuy River) in close proximity from the city of Mirny, there is the largest diamond quarry in the world in terms of total volume (primary sample earth's lithosphere red-brown color - up to magma) - kimberlite pipe "Mir" (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. Kimberlite uranium pipe "Mir" - the most typical example 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 radiation hazard There are fewer quarries for excavation workers and miners than closed underground mines (such as the Fergana or Almaden cinnabar mine), but are burdened by direct outcrops 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 from various reasons: natural anomalies (primary kimberlites - breakdowns of meteorites and fireballs of the earth’s crust), cataclysms (fault lithospheric plates), human intervention (the release of karst waters and lakes onto the surface of kimberlites) are doing their job. The tube looks small from above.

However, increasingly the reasons similar 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 testing not only with light and photo filters, but also on a PC, 32-bit digital digital processes - author of the site).

For 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, adverse effects on the local fauna - the inevitable consequences of open-pit mining. In the mine - washing out groundwater hazardous components (including springs, underground and surface 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 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 extreme situation 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 began 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 flooding of the bottom, Level III danger, 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 end 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 foundation involves highly metamorphosed Archean and Proterozoic crystalline rocks folded into folds (gneisses, crystalline schists, amphibolites, charnockites, marbles, etc.), absolute age which ranges from 2.3 (Anabar massif of the Russian Federation) to 3.7 (Kansky ledge of the Russian Federation) 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 clasts sedimentary rocks cover and crystalline basement rocks, 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)
Special method author of the study of atmospheric phenomena and rocks, 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)

These elegant, outwardly fragile, incredibly beautiful stones with the ability to reflect and refract rays, scattering magical sparks of light around them, were once thrown through volcanic vents onto the surface of planet Earth. In our time, these volcanoes have long been extinct, their above-ground part as a result of erosion processes has disappeared without a trace, but the rocks, stones and other substances frozen in the crater have not disappeared anywhere.

What these vents contain great amount diamonds, scientists learned only in the middle of the last century, when in the territory African continent a huge diamond deposit was found, nicknamed the kimberlite pipe (it was later discovered that such natural formations contain about 90% of the planet’s natural diamond reserves).

People could not ignore such an event - and all over the world began active search similar deposits. Some countries, such as Botswana, Russia, Canada, South Africa, Angola, were lucky, and having discovered the desired rock, they almost immediately began to develop promising finds, digging a deep hole and creating a huge crater.

Subsequently, scientists noticed interesting feature similar holes: fly helicopters and others aircraft above man-made craters is extremely dangerous, since a huge hole literally sucks them into itself.

Education

As for the process of formation of a kimberlite pipe and diamonds in it, it looks quite interesting. Several billion years ago, a breakthrough of magmatic solutions and gases occurred in the bowels of the earth (and it is interesting that it did not happen in a thin part of the earth’s crust, the thickness of which is about 10 km, but the explosion pierced a powerful platform 40 km thick).

As a result, a conical-shaped channel appeared, more similar to a champagne glass: the deeper it goes underground, the narrower it becomes and at a certain depth it turns into a vein.

The crater opening of this channel is usually from five hundred meters to one and a half kilometers. After the eruption, breccias (volcanic fragments) and gray-green tuff, the so-called kimberlite, were frozen in the crater of this crater - a rock consisting of phlogopite, garnet, olivine, carbonates and other minerals.

When these minerals come out earth's surface in another way, their form is always well-cut crystals. But in the composition of kimberlite there are no such faces, and the grains are round in shape. As for diamonds, they appear on the surface in a ready-made form with sharp edges that can be used to cut glass without processing.

Despite the fact that a kimberlite pipe is usually 10% filled with gems, extracting diamonds from the rock is a rather labor-intensive process, since only about 1 carat of gems, which is 0.2 g, is extracted from one ton of kimberlite.

The first kimberlite pipe, called " Big hole", was found in the middle of the 19th century. in South Africa, in the Kimberley province (where the name of both the diamond-containing rock and the vent itself came from). This deposit is also the largest quarry that was created by people without the use of any technology.

To create in earth's crust a hole of this scale, more than 50 thousand miners were involved, who developed the quarry using shovels and picks. As a result, over fifty years, more than 22 million tons of soil were extracted from the bowels of the earth and more than 2.7 thousand kg of diamonds (about 14.5 million carats) were extracted.

Despite the fact that in currently the "Big Hole" deposit has completely exhausted itself, diamond quarry still remains a local landmark, since for more than a century it has held the reputation of the largest man-made hole in our world: its area is about 17 hectares, the hole has a perimeter of 1.6 km, and a width of 463 m.

As for the depth, at present it is not very great, but previously it went down to 240 m. When diamond mining stopped, the deposit was filled up to 215 m, after which underground streams filled the bottom of the quarry with water and created a lake. Currently the hole is 40 m deep.

Quarry "Mir"

In the middle of the last century, on the territory of Yakutia in Russia, geologists found several kimberlite pipes at once - the first was “Zarnitsa”, discovered in 1954. Few gems were found in it, but the discovery of this vent prompted geologists to continue the search work.

And as it turned out, not in vain: already on next year in these parts one of the largest diamond deposits of our planet called “Mir” was discovered (on the map you can find it near the city of Mirny at the following coordinates: 62°31'42″N 113°59'39″E ). It is noteworthy that it was here that the largest gem in Russia, called “XXVI Congress of the CPSU,” weighing 342.5 carats (that’s a little more than 68 grams) was found.

The country's authorities paid great attention to the development of this Mir kimberlite pipe, attracted a huge number of people - and after some time, among the wild and uninhabited region, first a village was built, and then the city of Mirny, located more than a thousand kilometers from Yakutsk. The settlement was immediately placed so that the kimberlite pipe was right next to Mirny.

Work on the development of the Mir field in conditions permafrost(in winter the temperature here is often -60°C) they were extremely heavy - it was very difficult to work with the earth and the soil had to be undermined with dynamite. Within a few years, the quarry produced about 2 kg of diamonds per year, of which 20% had jewelry value, and the rest were used for industrial purposes.

IN this moment, it is believed that the Mir quarry produces greatest number diamonds in Russia and a quarter of all diamonds on our planet (and this, despite the fact that in size it is still somewhat inferior to another similar deposit found in these parts - the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe): its diameter is 1.2 km, and its depth – 525 m.

Several years ago, diamond mining in the quarry was stopped after the depth of the hole reached critical dimensions, and all work moved to the Mir underground mine. Working underground is difficult in itself, and in this case it is further complicated by the fact that underground water constantly floods the mine, as a result of which it has to be constantly pumped out and directed into natural faults that were found in the earth's crust.

Work in the Mir kimberlite pipe is not going to be stopped in the near future, since geologists have discovered that a huge amount of diamonds lie at a depth of more than one kilometer, and therefore the Mir deposit can be developed for more than thirty years.

Quarry "Udachnaya"

The largest kimberlite pipe in Russia is also located in Yakutia, 20 km from the Arctic Circle (on the map it can be found at the following coordinates: 66°25′ N 112°19′ E). Its parameters are:

• Width – 2 thousand m;
• Length – 1.6 thousand m;
• Depth – 530 m.

This hole actually consists of two pipes adjacent to each other - Western and Eastern. In terms of their characteristics, gems from different vents are quite different from each other.

Despite the fact that this diamond quarry was opened in the mid-50s, it began to be actively developed only in the early eighties. Currently, gems are mined in an open-pit manner, but since the depth of the deposit has become critical for this type of mining, an underground mine has recently begun operating here.

Experts say that most diamonds from the Udachnaya Kimberlite pipe have already been removed from the bowels of the earth, and some of the finds are amazing. For example, a stone was recently found here containing about 30 thousand diamonds, which is a million times higher than their usual concentration.

Diamonds were formed more than 300 million years ago. Kimberlite magma gradually rose along faults in the earth's crust from a depth of 20-25 km, and when the upper layers could no longer contain the pressure of the rocks, an explosion occurred.

The first such pipe was discovered in South Africa in the city of Kimberley - that’s where the name came from. In the mid-50s, the richest primary diamond deposits were discovered in Yakutia, where about 1,500 kimberlite pipes have been discovered to date. The development of deposits in Yakutia is carried out by the Russian company ALROSA, which produces 99% of diamonds in the Russian Federation and more than a quarter in the world.

Let's see how diamonds are mined.

Photos and textSlava Stepanov - http://gelio.livejournal.com/

The city of Mirny is the diamond “capital” of Russia, located in Yakutia (Sakha) 1200 km away. from Yakutsk. The Mir diamond-bearing pipe, discovered by geologists in the summer of 1955, gave its name to a workers’ settlement that grew up in the taiga and became a city 3.5 years later.

The population of the city is about 35 thousand people. About 80% of this population works at enterprises associated with the ALROSA group of companies.

Mirny Airport

Lenin Square - city center:

The headquarters of Russia's largest diamond mining company, ALROSA, is located in Mirny. The history of the company began with the Yakutalmaz trust, formed to develop the primary diamond deposits of Yakutia in the early 1950s.

The main deposit of Yakutalmaz was the Mir kimberlite pipe, discovered on June 13, 1955. Then geologists sent an encrypted telegram to Moscow: “We have lit the pipe of peace. Excellent tobacco"

The quarry is located in close proximity to Mirny:

From 1957 to 2001, $17 billion worth of diamonds were extracted from the deposit, and about 350 million cubic meters of rock were removed. Over the years, the quarry expanded so much that dump trucks had to travel 8 km along a spiral road. from bottom to surface.

The quarry has a depth of 525 meters and a diameter of 1.2 km, is one of the largest in the world: its height could include Ostankino Tower .

The quarry was mothballed in June 2001 and since 2009, diamond ore has been mined underground at the Mir mine.

An aquifer passes through the area where the Mir pipe is located. Water is now entering the quarry and thus poses a threat to the mine underneath. Water must be continuously pumped out and directed into the faults that geologists have found in the earth's crust.

About 760 people work at the mine. The company operates seven days a week. The mine operates on a three-shift basis, with shifts lasting 7 hours.

Surveyors determining the direction of excavation through the ore body:

9 roadheaders (Sandvik MR 620 and MR360) are used for excavation in the mine. The combine is a machine with an executive body in the form of an arrow with a milling crown, which is equipped with cutting tools - teeth.

This Sandvik MR360 combine has 72 teeth made of hardened metal. Since the teeth are subject to wear, they are inspected every shift and, if necessary, replaced with new ones.

Main converter belt 1200 meters long from the kimberlite pipe to the ore pass skip. The average diamond content exceeds 3 carats per ton:

From this place to the bottom of the quarry is about 20 meters.

To prevent flooding of the underground mine, a pillar 20 meters thick was left between the bottom of the quarry and the mine workings. A waterproof layer is also laid at the bottom of the quarry, which prevents water from penetrating into the mine.

The mine also has a water collection system: first, groundwater is collected in special settling tanks, then it is supplied to an elevation of -310 meters, from where it is pumped to the surface:

And this is underground work on another pipe - "International" ("Inter").

It is located 16 km from Mirny. Open-pit diamond mining here began in 1971, and when the quarry reached 284 m by 1980, it was mothballed. It was with Inter that underground diamond mining began in Yakutia.

“International” is the company’s richest kimberlite pipe in terms of diamond content in ore - more than 8 carats per ton. In addition, Inter diamonds are different high quality and are valued on the world market.

The depth of the mine is 1065 meters. The pipe has been explored to 1220 meters. The length of all workings here is more than 40 km.

The combine beats ore with a working tool (cone cutter) with cutters installed on it:

Next comes loading into vehicles that transport the ore to the ore passes (mining openings designed to transport ore from the working area to the transport horizon located below), then the trolleys transport it to the main ore pass, through which it is released to the surface.

1,500 tons of ore are mined at Inter per day. The volume of diamond production in 2013 amounted to more than 4.3 million carats. On average, one ton of rock contains 8.53 carats of diamonds. Thus, in terms of diamond content per ton of Inter ore mined, there are 2 tons of ore from Mir, 4 tons from Aikhal, or 8 tons from Udachninsky.

Nyurbinskaya kimberlite pipe. The Nyurbinsky mining and processing plant was created in March 2000 for the development of deposits of the Nakyn ore field in the Nyurba ulus of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) - the Nyurbinskaya and Botuobinskaya kimberlite pipes, as well as adjacent placers. Mining is carried out by open-pit and placer mining.

As of July 1, 2013, the depth of the Nyurbinsky quarry is 255 meters.

The open pit will be mined up to 450 meters (up to −200 meters from sea level).

There is potential to operate up to −320 meters.

To transport ore and overburden rocks, dump trucks with large and especially heavy load capacity are used - from 40 to 136 tons.

The quarry uses Caterpillar CAT-777D dump trucks with a lifting capacity of 88 tons.

The volume of diamond production in 2013 amounted to 6.5 million carats.

The average diamond content in the ore is 4.25 carats per ton. The body of such a dump truck contains about 300-400 carats:

From a quarry or mine, ore is transported by dump trucks to a factory, where the minerals themselves are extracted from it.

Coarse crushing body and jaw crusher. It grinds by rubbing the movable “cheek” against the stationary one. 6 thousand tons of raw materials pass through the crusher per day:

Medium crushing body:

Spiral classifiers. Designed for wet separation of solid material into sand (sediment, particle size up to 50 mm), and drain containing fine suspended particles:

Wet autogenous mill:

Mill diameter - 7 meters:

Screen (vibrating sieve designed for sifting materials):

The stones are sifted through a sieve, where they are divided into groups by size:

Finely processed rock is sent to spiral classifiers (screw separators), where all raw materials are separated depending on their density.

. Fine material enters it along with the addition of aqueous reagents, and crystals of small classes adhere to the foam bubbles, heading for finishing. This machine extracts the smallest diamonds - from 2 mm or less.

This is a film machine where, using reagents, a layer is created to which crystals of small diamonds adhere:

X-ray luminescent separator. This separator uses the property of diamonds to glow in X-rays. The material, moving along the tray, is irradiated with X-rays. Once in the irradiation zone, the diamond begins to glow. After the flash, a special device detects the glow and sends a signal to the cutting device.

Central control panel of the processing plant:

Diamond Sorting Center. All diamonds mined at the company’s fields in Yakutia are sent to the Sorting Center in Mirny. Here, diamonds are separated by size class, an initial assessment of raw materials from different deposits is carried out and its monitoring is carried out to plan the work of mining and processing plants.

There are no perfect crystals or two identical diamonds in nature, so their classification involves sorting. 16 sizes x 10 shapes x 5 qualities x 10 colors = 8,000 positions.

Vibrating Screen. Its task is to divide small diamonds into size classes. For this, 4-8 sieves are used. About 1,500 stones are placed into the device at a time:

The larger ones are handled by weighing machines. The largest diamonds are sorted by people.

The shape, quality and color of crystals are determined by appraisers using magnifying glasses and microscopes. Dozens of diamonds pass through a specialist per hour, and if they are small, then the number goes into hundreds.

Each stone is looked at three times.

Manual weighing of diamond. The weight of a diamond is determined in carats. The name "carat" comes from the seed of the carob tree, carat. In ancient times, the carat seed served as a unit of measurement for mass and volume. precious stones:

1 carat - 0.2 g (200 mg). Stones weighing more than 50 carats are found several times a month. The largest diamond on the planet, the Cullinan, weighed 621 grams. The diamond was found by accident on January 25, 1905 in South Africa in the Premier Mine and, apparently, was a fragment of a very large crystal, which was never found. Today this diamond would be worth about 200 billion rubles.

The largest diamond among the Yakut ones is the “XXII Congress of the CPSU”, it weighs 342 carats (more than 68 grams).

In 2013, ALROSA Group enterprises produced more than 37 million carats of diamonds. Of these, 60% goes for industrial purposes and 40% for jewelry.

After selection, the stones go to the cutting plant. There diamonds become diamonds. Cutting losses range from 30 to 70% of the weight of the diamond.

As of 2013, the reserves of the ALROSA group amounted to 608 million carats, and the forecast reserves are about one third of the global total. Thus, the company is provided mineral resource base 30 years ahead.

Among the amazing natural phenomena we can certainly include the periodically opening up in different places. globe holes.

1.Kimberlite pipe "Mir" (Mir diamond pipe), Yakutia.

The Mir kimberlite pipe 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 world's largest diamond quarry is amazing.

2.Kimberlite pipe "Big Hole", South Africa.

The Big Hole is a huge inactive diamond mine in the city of Kimberley (South Africa). It is believed that this is the largest quarry developed by people without the use of technology. Currently it is the main attraction of the city of Kimberley.

From 1866 to 1914, approximately 50,000 miners dug the mine using picks and shovels, producing 2,722 tons of diamonds (14.5 million carats). During the development of the quarry, 22.5 million tons of soil were extracted. It was here that such famous diamonds as "De Beers" (428.5 carats), bluish-white "Porter-Rhodes" (150 carats), orange-yellow " Tiffany" (128.5 carats). Currently, this diamond deposit has been exhausted. The area of ​​the “Big Hole” is 17 hectares. Its diameter is 1.6 km. The hole was dug to a depth of 240 meters, but was then filled with waste rock to a depth of 215 meters, currently the bottom of the hole is filled with water, its depth is 40 meters.

At the site of the mine previously (about 70 - 130 million years ago) there was a volcanic crater. Almost a hundred years ago - in 1914, development in the “Big Hole” was stopped, but the gaping crater of the pipe remains to this day and now serves only as a bait for tourists, serving as a museum. And... it starts to create problems. In particular, there was a serious danger of collapse not only of its edges, but also of the roads built in its immediate vicinity. South African road services have long banned the passage of heavy freight vehicles in these places, and now they strongly recommend that all other drivers avoid driving along Bultfontein Road in the Big Hole area. Authorities are going to completely block dangerous area roads. And the world's largest diamond company, De Beers, which owned this mine since 1888, did not find anything better than to get rid of it by putting it up for sale.

3. Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah.

The largest active open-pit mine in the world, copper mining began in 1863 and is still ongoing. About a kilometer deep and three and a half kilometers wide.

It is the world's largest anthropogenic formation (excavated by humans). It is a mine whose development is carried out using an open pit method.

As of 2008, it measures 0.75 miles (1.2 km) deep, 2.5 miles (4 km) wide, and covers an area of ​​1,900 acres (7.7 sq. km).

The ore was first discovered in 1850, and quarrying began in 1863, which continues to this day.

Currently, the quarry employs 1,400 people who extract 450,000 tons (408 thousand tons) of rock daily. The ore is loaded into 64 large dump trucks, which are capable of transporting 231 tons of ore, these trucks cost about $3 million each.

4. Diavik Quarry, Canada. Diamonds are mined.

The Canadian Diavik quarry is perhaps one of the youngest (in terms of development) diamond kimberlite pipes. It was first explored only in 1992, the infrastructure was created by 2001, and diamond mining began in January 2003. The mine is expected to last from 16 to 22 years.
The place where it emerges from the surface of the earth is unique in itself. Firstly, this is not one, but three pipes formed on the island of Las de Gras, about 220 km to the south Arctic Circle, off the coast of Canada. Because the hole is huge, and the island is in the middle Pacific Ocean small, only 20 km²

and in a short time, the Diavik diamond mine became one of the most important components of the Canadian economy. Up to 8 million carats (1,600 kg) of diamonds are mined from this deposit per year. An airfield was built on one of its neighboring islands, capable of receiving even huge Boeings. In June 2007, a consortium of seven companies mining industry announced its intention to sponsor environmental studies and begin construction on the North Shore of Canada major port to receive cargo ships with a displacement of up to 25,000 tons, as well as 211 km of access road that will connect the port with the consortium’s factories. This means that the hole in the ocean will grow and deepen.

5. Great Blue Hole, Belize.

The world-famous Great Blue Hole (“Great Blue Hole”) is the main attraction of picturesque, ecologically perfectly clean Belize (formerly British Honduras) - a state in Central America, on the Yucatan Peninsula. No, this time it is not a kimberlite pipe. It is not diamonds that are “mined” from it, but tourists - diving enthusiasts from all over the world, thanks to which it feeds the country no worse than a diamond pipe. Probably, it would be better to call it not “Blue Hole”, but “Blue Dream”, since this can only be seen in dreams or in a dream. This is a true masterpiece, a miracle of nature - a perfectly round, twilight blue spot in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, surrounded by a lace shirtfront of the Lighthouse Reef.

View from space!

Width 400 meters, depth 145 - 160 meters.

It’s like they’re swimming over an abyss...

6. Drainage hole in the reservoir of the Monticello Dam.

A large man-made hole is located in Northern California, USA. But this is not just a hole. The drainage hole in the Monticello Dam reservoir is the largest spillway in the world! It was built about 55 years ago. This funnel-shaped exit is simply irreplaceable here. It allows you to quickly discharge excess water from the tank when its level exceeds the permissible limit. A kind of safety valve.

Visually, the funnel looks like a giant concrete pipe. It is capable of passing through itself as much as 1370 cubic meters per second. m of water! The depth of this hole is about 21 m. From top to bottom it has the shape of a cone, the diameter of which at the top reaches almost 22 m, and at the bottom it narrows to 9 m and comes out on the other side of the dam, removing excess water when the reservoir overflows. The distance from the pipe to the exit point, which is located slightly to the south, is approximately 700 feet (about 200 m).

7. Karst sinkhole in Guatemala.

A giant funnel with a depth of 150 and a diameter of 20 meters. Caused by groundwater and rain. During the formation of the sinkhole, several people died and a dozen houses were destroyed. According to local residents, from about the beginning of February, soil movements were felt in the area of ​​​​the future tragedy, and a muffled rumble was heard from underground.