Mirny Diamond Mine

KarlH's picture

Location

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

You might be interested in

Singapore government has a plan to transform the city from a ‘Garden City’ to a ‘City in a Garden’. The 1st step in that process was the construction of the Gardens by the Bay.

Also known as Tsarskoye Selo (the Emperors village), the Catherine Palace is a magnificent complex of gardens, baroque-styled summerhouses, and colorful palaces.

Saint Isaac's Cathedral is the largest Orthodox cathedral in the world. This monumental building is dedicated to Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, a patron saint of Peter the Great, who had been born on the feast day of that saint.

Built in a classic Russian Orthodox style, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood is one of the most elaborate churches of St. Petersburg.

Located inside the harbor area, the Hamburg Fish Market offers see goods freshly shipped from all over the world. Here you can find sorts of fish meat, your local vendor surely doesn’t sell.

Hamburg Rathaus is the town hall of Hamburg and the main city’s government office.