Owner: Alrosa
Type of Mine: Diamond
Location: Sakha Republic, Russia
Built: 1988
At 600 meters deep Udachnaya plunges lower than, though not nearly as wide as, Mir. Discovered just days after Mir, the Udachnaya pipe is so remote that a small city, named after the project, was built up around the diamond mine to house workers. Since 2010 Alrosa has shifted its direction underground as open-pit mining was no longer cost effective.
Image courtesy of Stepanovas; The open pit of Udachnaya, 17 July 2004
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