The Man Made Diamonds

Russia is among the largest producers of diamonds of both, the natural and synthetic kind. Diamond mines in Russia are owned and operated by the state. Diamonds of superior quality are sold for making jewelry, whereas the inferior quality diamonds are used for industrial applications.

Russia is also among the largest producers of synthetic diamonds and has contributed technical innovations for producing these diamonds.

History

Most of the diamond mines of Russia are located in the Arctic region of the country, and were discovered in the 1950s. The country started heavy mining of diamonds for use in industries.

Geography

Most of the diamond mines in Russia are found in the far-eastern Republic of Yakutia and on the outskirts of the Arctic Circle. With its far-eastern diamond mines getting depleted, Russia looks forward to the Perm region in Western Russia as its next major area for mining of diamonds.

Synthetic Diamonds

Russian scientists and technocrats first developed a process for economical manufacturing of quality diamonds in the 1980’s. The quality of diamonds produced using the new technology was very close to natural diamonds.

Though synthetic diamonds are best used for industrial applications, they are not so appealing aesthetically, and therefore find limited use in making jewelry.

Features

Extraction of Russian diamonds necessitated very deep drilling for their effective extraction. The already exhausted Mirna diamond mine is the largest open pit mine in the world. The same technique is used for extraction of diamonds from other Russian mines, nearing the size of Mirna.

Environmental Damage

The environmental effects of mining are not difficult to guess. Environments surrounding the Mirna mines have undergone irreparable and drastic changes.  After the Mirna mine was completely exhausted, it caused a huge 2000 feet deep crater. The cost of rehabilitating exhausted mining area is so great that it would perhaps never be done.

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