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Mines/Russia

Mir diamond mine

Mir diamond mine, Russia. Care and maintenance, open pit and underground, mining diamonds.

Why Mir diamond mine is famous

The Mir pipe in Yakutia was found in 1955. Wikidata gives 1957 as its start. ALROSA says open-pit mining ended in 2001 and underground mining has run since 2009. After an incident in August 2017 mining was suspended and the field is on conservation. ALROSA reports an average diamond grade above 3 carats a tonne. The 2017 year is the suspension date, not a final closure.1,2

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1955Mir kimberlite pipe found in Yakutia3

What kind of deposit

Kimberlite and lamproite pipe

Mir diamond mine today

Mining in Russia

Where next

Mines

Partner ofUdachnaya pipe (Udachny mine)Udachnaya was found in 1955, the year of the Mir pipe, and is now worked underground.1Same kind of depositOrapaOrapa is the largest open-pit diamond mine by area. Mir was found in 1955.4

Events

Led toMir kimberlite pipe found in YakutiaRead what happened near Mir diamond mine: Mir kimberlite pipe found in Yakutia.1

Deposit types

An example ofKimberlite and lamproite pipeMir diamond mine belongs to the kimberlite and lamproite pipe family of deposits.5

Sources

  1. Resources and assets ALROSA
  2. Mir diamond mine (Q1369879) Wikidata
  3. Diamond deposit of the Mir kimberlite pipe: main research stages (abstract, 2025) Mining Industry Journal
  4. Our mines page De Beers Group
  5. Mineral Deposit Models (Bulletin 1693, Cox and Singer, eds., 1986) US Geological Survey

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Kimberley, South Africa: the Kimberley mine and town. Woodburytype, 1888, after a photograph by Robert Harris., Harris, Robert, active 1881-1888. (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Kirunavaara gruva, Kiruna., Fotograf okänd, / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).