Myrni MineThe Myrni mine (also called the Mir mine) is an inactive diamond mine that began productio
Myrni MineThe Myrni mine (also called the Mir mine) is an inactive diamond mine that began production in 1957 and ceased activity as an open pit mine in 2004, although mining has since moved underground. As with most diamond mines, the rocks being dug up were kimberlites – the result of violent volcanic eruptions that start deep beneath Earth’s crust and carry intact pieces of the mantle, including diamonds, rapidly up to the surface.Kimberlite eruptions produce vertical pipes that break through the Earth’s crust, so the best way to mine them is to dig straight down. The more excess rock moved out of the way, the more expensive the mine is to operate, so to get at the ore, the miners dug as close to straight down as possible, leaving only tiny ledges to prevent rockfalls. Near the end of its operation, it took nearly 2 hours for a vehicle to drive from the surface to the bottom.The mine is over 500 meters deep, making it one of the 5 deepest man-made holes in the ground and 2nd largest by volume. Whether it’s true I’m not sure, but there is a long-running story that this site was declared a “no-fly zone” for helicopters due to downdrafts in the pit creating unsafe flying conditions. -JBBImage credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeande/2730864493Read morehttp://www.usmra.com/photos/bigpit/http://www.mining.com/mir-diamond-mine-38690/http://gizmodo.com/the-nearly-mile-wide-diamond-mine-that-helped-build-the-1593234924 -- source link
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