#mirny

[miamaimania]

◆ Mirny Diamond Mine ~ Russia ⌘ 525m deep × 1.25km wide — the downdraft above the pit can ground aircraft

[rocambolesystem]

Mirny vs. Orth

[comprehensiveee]

Mirny, Sakha Republic, Russia

[engineeringandarchitecture]

Diamond Mine in Russia ⛏️ The Mir mine, also called the #Mirny mine, is an open pit #diamondmine located in Mirny, Sakha Republic, in the Siberian region of eastern #Russia. The #mine is more than 525 meters (1,722 ft) deep (4th in the world), has a diameter of 1,200 m (3,900 ft), and is one of the largest excavated holes in the world. Opened: 1957 Closed: 2004* * The mine was recommissioned in 2009, and is expected to remain operational for 50 more years. . . #mirmine #openpitmine #mining #diamond #geotechnics #geology #geological #mechanical #engineering #miningengineering #geotechnical #Metallurgy #metallurgicalengineering #materialsengineering #civilengineering #megalophobia #landscape https://www.instagram.com/p/CXi-VN6lVTM/?utm_medium=tumblr

[earthstory]

Myrni Mine

The 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. 

-JBB

Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeande/2730864493

Read more http://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

[images4images]

Mir diamond mine in Mirny, Siberia. Unknown credits. 1080x1349

[flagsofrussia]

Flag of Mirny (ZАТО), Kholmogorsky district, Arkhangelsk Oblast

A retrofuturist space design? Must’ve been one of those closed science cities that housed top secret space stuff. Well yeah, this is the site of Plesetsk Cosmodrome, where they develop ICBMs and some satellites. The Soviet Union was trying to hide the existence of this launchpad but a British teacher and his students figured it out after observing a rocket launch that doesn’t look like it was launched from Baikonur (remember this place?)

Nowadays Russia tries to use it more to lessen the dependence on Baikonur, but some geographical properties of Mirny makes it somewhat less ideal than Baikonur.

According to the website of the city, the top arrow and star represents the aircraft and a star, lines in the middle for northern lights, and the hexagon is some kind of symbol associated with the Cosmodrome. On the header of the site you can see they have a cool monument of that symbol.

Also, there are several other Mirny in Russia, some with their own flags, but this one is definitely the coolest. When you want to know more about this city, put ZATO or ЗАТО on the search term, which specifies that you’re looking for the closed city

[stefanomattia]

Rockot Hotel Mirny, Russia, September 2017