Giant diamond mine can create tornado to suck down helicopters

According to When On Earth, with a depth of 540 m and a diameter of nearly 1.6 km, the mine pit near the town of Mirny in eastern Siberia looks like it was hit by a meteorite. The Mir diamond mine has a gworth $17 billion, including diamonds already mined from the mine plus remaining reserves. Image:Alrosa.

Open pit minelocated 8,046 km east of MoscowThis mine ceased operations in 2004, it was replaced by a series of underground tunnels that produced more than 6 million carats of rough diamonds in 2014.Image:Alrosa.

The airspace above the mine is blocked off due to concerns that the vortex it creates could suck helicopters down. However, no plane crashes have been reported there. The Mir mine is owned by the Russian company Alrosa, which produces about a quarter of the world's diamonds. Photo: Alrosa.

In 2010, construction company AB Elise announced plans to build a vast domed city on top of an abandoned mine. The company said it would use solar power to provide electricity for 100,000 people. However, underground mining will have to stop before the plan becomes a reality. Photo: Alrosa.

At its peak, an average of two million carats of rough diamonds were extracted from the Mir mine each year, worth at least $26 million. Photo: Alrosa.

Olonkho is vThe largest diamond mined came from the Mir mine, weighing130.85 carats,The mine is the size of a golf ball and is worth about $323,000. It was discovered in 1955 by three Soviet geologists, Ekaterina Elagina, Uri Khabardin and Viktor Avdeenko. Photo:Alrosa.

The mine is located in one of the harshest climates in the world. Winters can last seven months and temperatures often drop to -40 degrees Celsius, forming a thick layer of ice on the surface. The weather makes mining difficult.Image:Reddit.

When mining starts, miners usejet engineto create craters in the permafrost, thendynamite was used to dig through the surface rock and disintegrate the kimberlite ore. The three geologists were awarded the highest Soviet award, the Lenin Prize, for their contributions. The Mir mine provided an important source of revenue for the Soviet Union's reconstruction after World War II.Image:56th Parallel.

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