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Mirny Diamond Mine

Location

Mirny

Russia

62° 31' 39.1296" N, 113° 59' 32.9784" E

See map: Google Maps

RU

General info:

Mirny is a small town, with less than 40,000 citizens, but is one of the most famous in Russia. It is fairly remote town, surrounded with cold and wild Siberian forests. During the 60´s Mirny was the center of world’s diamond production and had the biggest diamond mine in the world. As the years went by, the mine started to dry out of diamonds. Finally in 2011, the site was closed. The workers went away, leaving the 2-nd biggest hole on Earth behind.

An interesting fact is that the airspace above the mine is closed even today, a few years after the mine was abandoned. The reason for that are alleged incidents involving several helicopters falling in the abyss, after being dragged down due to air temperature differences and unexpected currents.

Getting there:

Mirny is not the easiest place to get to. There are no direct flights from Moscow but you can get there through Yakutsk. Or take the car, 9500km from Moscow, 4300km from Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

Costs:

Flights to Mirny are around 500€ from Yakutsk. The town itself and the lodging there are very affordable.

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