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Mines/Russia

Udachnaya pipe (Udachny mine)

Udachnaya pipe (Udachny mine), Russia. Producing, open pit and underground, mining diamonds since 1971.

Why Udachnaya pipe (Udachny mine) is famous

Udachnaya is a diamond kimberlite pipe in Yakutia, found in 1955. ALROSA says open-pit mining began in 1971 and ended in 2015, and the pipe is now worked underground. The company dates the founding of the Udachny mine to 1967. USGS lists the Udachninskiy mining and beneficiation complex (Zarnitsa and Udachnyy) with a capacity of 5.8 million carats a year in 2021.1,2,3,4

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1955Mir kimberlite pipe found in Yakutia5

What kind of deposit

Kimberlite and lamproite pipe

Udachnaya pipe (Udachny mine) today

Mining in Russia

Where next

Mines

Partner ofMir diamond mineUdachnaya was found in 1955, the year of the Mir pipe, and is now worked underground.1ExamplesOlimpiadaRussia's Olimpiada gold was found in 1975. Udachnaya's diamond pipe was found in 1955.6

Events

HereMir kimberlite pipe found in YakutiaUdachnaya was also found in 1955 and is now worked underground.1

Deposit types

An example ofKimberlite and lamproite pipeUdachnaya pipe (Udachny mine) belongs to the kimberlite and lamproite pipe family of deposits.7

Sources

  1. Resources and assets ALROSA
  2. Our history ALROSA
  3. 2020-21 Minerals Yearbook, Russia (advance release) US Geological Survey
  4. Udachny (Q196792) Wikidata
  5. Diamond deposit of the Mir kimberlite pipe: main research stages (abstract, 2025) Mining Industry Journal
  6. Olimpiada Gold Mine, Severo-Yeniseysky District, Russia Mining Technology (GlobalData)
  7. 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).