The Mir mine is a former open pit diamond mine located in Mirny, Eastern Siberia, Russia. The mine is 525 meters (1,722 ft) deep and has a diameter of 1,200 m (3,900 ft), which is the second largest excavated hole in the world, after Bingham Canyon Mine.
The mine was discovered in June 13, 1955 by Soviet geologists Yuri Khabardin, Ekaterina Elagina and Viktor Avdeenko during the large Amakinsky Expedition in Yakut ASSR.
In the 1960s the mine was producing 10,000,000 carats (2,000 kg) of diamond per year, of which a relatively high fraction (20%) were of gem quality.
After the collapse of the USSR, in the 1990s, the mine was operated by the Sakha diamond company, which reported annual profits in excess of $600 million from diamond sales.
The Mir mine was the first and the largest diamond mine in the Soviet Union. Its surface operation lasted 44 years, finally closing in June 2001.
