Russian mining giant Alrosa has begun building a new “giant” mine to replace Mir, which was closed in 2017. The new mine will be called Mir-Gluboky, according to Mining Weekly.
Alrosa’s CEO Pavel Marinychev said the project would require an “estimated investment of 121.5-billion roubles ($1.26-billion), with production to start in 2032,” according to the piece. Marinychev added that “the total volume of diamond reserves is 173.5-million carats” and that production is expected to reach 3 million carats of diamonds annually for more than 30 years.
The Mir mine suffered a catastrophic flooding accident in August 2017, which killed eight people. Before the accident, the mine had accounted for over 10% of the Alrosa’s group’s diamond production.
