THE WORLD ’ S LARGEST DIAMOND MINE
updates on the future of the mine .
Largest diamond mine in the world Discovered in 1955 , the Udachny mine has become one of ALROSA ’ s largest diamond deposits ever . The mine is part of the Daldyn-Alakit field situated in the central part of the Yakutian diamondiferous province in Russia . The region consists of kimberlite rocks which contain eskolaite mineral within the natural diamond . The ore body of the mine is separated into Eastern and Western ore bodies which are divided by a block of Upper Cambrian sedimentary rocks . The open-pit mine , which commenced in 1971 , hit its peak in the early 1990s producing more than half of the company ’ s rough diamonds with 12 million tons per year . At depths of more than 630 meters , the Udachny mine is one of the 10 deepest open-pit mines in the world .
As of late , however , the open-pit mining is nearing its end and the company has initiated plans to transition the mine underground .
“ The open-pit mining couldn ’ t last forever ,” says Evgeniya Kozenko , head of public relations at ALROSA .
“ At a certain point open-pit mining at any deposit becomes unprofitable as the pit walls need to be widened to extract kimberlite ore . Today , Udachny open-pit mine has extremely steep slope and we use the remotely controlled equipment for the safe extraction of ore there .”
Open-pit mining is expected to be phased out by 2015 .
Future outlook of the mine In 2004 , ALROSA began
11