World (kimberlite pipe)

The kimberlite pipe was discovered on June 13, 1955 according to a forecast map compiled by geologist N. V. Kind , by geologists from the Amakinskaya expedition Yu. I. Habardin , E. N. Elagina, and V. P. Avdeenko . The famous radiogram, transmitted by them to the leadership of the expedition about the discovery of kimberlite , was coded, with reference to the cultural term “ tube of peace ” ^[4] :

They smoked the pipe of the world, the tobacco is excellent. Avdeenko, Elagina, Khabardin.

- Radiogram on the opening of the diamond pipe "Mir". June 13, 1955

For the opening of the Mir pipe, Yu. I. Khabardin was awarded the Lenin Prize, E. N. Elagina was awarded a diploma and diploma “Discoverer of the Field”, and also became an honorary citizen of Mirny ^[5] .

The Mir pipe is located in the Malo-Botuobinsky diamondiferous region. The kimberlite pipe “Mir” is a steeply falling tubular body, to a depth of 300 m (elevation +30 m) - cone-shaped. The cross-sectional area of ​​the ore body decreases with depth and at a depth of 900 m passes into a dacha body . The tube is composed of kimberlite rocks formed as a result of three-phase introduction of kimberlite magma. Rocks of different phases differ little in composition, physicomechanical properties, and diamond content. The gas content, bituminous and oil-bearing capacity of highly porous layers containing carbonate rocks and, to a lesser extent, kimberlites, led to the classification of the underground mine as dangerous for gas and oil manifestations. In this regard, the excavation of underground workings in powerful carbonate formations is carried out after the massif of rocks is drilled before the slaughter of the workings by advanced degassing wells. ^[6]

Career Development

In 1957, diamond mining began in the open way, lasting for 44 years (until June 2001 ^[7] ). The settlement Mirny , which became the center of the Soviet diamond mining industry, was formed near the quarry. The largest diamond found in Russia was mined in the Mir career on December 23, 1980. It weighs 342.5 carats (more than 68 g) and is called the “XXVI CPSU Congress” ^[8] . In recent years, career trucks “wound” on a spiral road 8 km from the bottom to the surface.

In the course of its work, the quarry was reconstructed 3 times, a unique grouting curtain was created, which prevented the entry of aggressive brines from the Metegero-Ichersky water-bearing complex, as well as the drainage system 32,250 m³ of water per day (about 1 million m³ per month).

Over the years, the development of the open-pit (quarry) method from the field produced diamonds, according to unofficial data, to 17 billion US dollars, about 350 million m³ of rock were removed.

Mine Development

Geological exploration has shown that the depth of diamonds exceeds a kilometer, therefore, at present, the ALROSA company, which is developing the field, is building an underground mine at the field. For the construction of an underground mine and the future safe mining of the upper underground horizons, the bottom of a mothballed pit was filled with a special protective layer of rock. This "pillow", or "pillar", is not amenable to explosive pressure, its thickness - 45 meters.

The miners are planning to mine diamond-bearing ore from the kimberlite pipe for 34 years. The mine, the first line of which was commissioned in 2009 (on March 7, 2002, the sinking of the cage shaft of the mine was started, in August 2003 - skip), has a design capacity of one million tons of ore per year. ^[9]

The Mirny Mining and Processing Plant is the oldest enterprise of ALROSA. It is located in the town of Mirny and was founded in 1957 in connection with the start of the development of the Mir kimberlite pipe deposit. Currently, the GOK is developing the underground deposits of the Mir and Internatsionalnaya pipelines, as well as a number of placer deposits, by underground mining. The ore coming from all mining enterprises of the mining and enrichment plant undergoes enrichment at factory No. 3 ^[10] , the design capacity of which is 2 million tons of ore per year.

Underground Mine International

The mine began work in 1999 and in 2002 reached its full design capacity of 600 thousand tons of ore per year ^[11] . In 2014, the mine mined 3.862 million carats of diamonds. Open pit mining at the field was completed in 2011. Diamonds of the "International" are unique in their jewelry qualities and are especially valued on the world market. The mine has the highest diamond content in the ore. With a content of 8.09 carats per ton, its reserves are sufficient for mining for the next 27 years ^[12] .
Mining at the International mine is conducted using a mechanized layered development system with a bookmark. Ore breaking is done by combines. The loading and hauling machines deliver the ore to the ore chutes, then it is transported in trolleys along the haulage horizon to the capital ore chute, through which the ore enters the main trunk and then is delivered to the surface.

Mir Underground Mine

The Mir mine became no less unique than the open-pit mine that worked on the field before 2001. Commissioning of the underground mine began in 2009 ^[13] . The capacity of the Mir mine is 1 million tons of ore per year. In 2014, the mine produced 1.463 million carats of diamonds. Mining operations are carried out using a mechanized layered development system with the laying of the goaf. Combining ore is carried out by combines, loading-hauling machines perform the loading and delivery of ore from mining sites to one of two ore passes, which ensure the transfer of ore to another transport horizon ^[14] .

Draft Fleet

A feature of the plant is the only diamond fleet in the Russian Federation and ALROSA, represented by three dredges ^[15] . These floating complexes move along the Irelyakh river bed, lifting tons of diamondiferous sand from the river bottom and conducting their primary enrichment.

The Metegero-Ichersky aquifer ^[16] passes through the Mir, which was discovered during the mining of the ore by a quarry. According to the project of underground mining of the field, all the water from the quarry should be continuously pumped out and pumped into the faults that were found by geologists in the earth's crust. The water accumulating in the quarry also heats the underground mine.

For safety reasons, water is continuously pumped out of the pit by pumps. Now ^{[ when? ]} additional work is underway, as a result of which the entire flow of water should be managed. In particular, facilities will be launched to intercept water on the upper horizons. Thus, the mine will fully comply with all safety requirements.

• On December 23, 1980, a large jewelry diamond weighing 342.5 carats, which was named in honor of the forthcoming 26th CPSU Congress ^[17] , was mined at the Mir career.
• In March 2002, a president's diamond weighing 79.9 carats was mined in the International pipe quarry ^[18] .
• Contrary to the general idea, the “Mir” open-pit mine is not the largest. It has a depth of 535 meters and a diameter of 1.2 km. According to these parameters, it is significantly inferior to the Udachnaya tube career, which has a size of 1600 x 2000 meters on the surface and 640 meters in depth.

October 9, 2012 at the mine "Mir" there was a collapse. The filling material with an area of ​​20 meters has fallen. At the time of the accident at the mine were 110 people. As a result of the collapse, 1 person died. 109 mine workers independently surfaced. ^[nineteen]

On April 15, 2013, a rock collapsed at the Mir mine and one person died. ^[20]

August 4, 2017 at the mine there was a breakthrough of water. In the mine were 151 people. 142 miners were evacuated quickly, another was rescued the next day. The search for the remaining eight people to make it went on unsuccessfully for about three weeks, then they were stopped ^{[21] [22] [23] [24]} .

The mine is mothballed - if the mining is resumed, then not earlier than in a few years ^{[23] [24]} .

• Successful (kimberlite tube)
• Kimberlite pipe "Big Hole"
• City under the dome

• Yu. I. Khabardin. Discoverer's Memories: The Path to the Diamond Tube. - M .: Geoinformmark, 1999. - 275 p.

• AK "ALROSA" - Mirny GOK
• Underground city in career
• How to mine diamonds. ALROSA company. Mirninsky and Nyurbinskiy GOK (Photoblog, 2014)