The Udachnaya pipe (literally lucky pipe) is the
largest diamond deposit in the Daldyn-Alakit kimberlite field in Sakha
Republic, Russia and one of the largest in the world. It is an open-pit
mine located just outside the Arctic circle and it is more than 600
meters (1980 feet) deep. When you are standing on the top, the huge
Caterpillars look tiny. And when you are at the bottom of the pipe, it
looks... well, it looks just amazing. Udachnaya was discovered on June
15, 1955, just two days after the discovery of the diamond pipe Mir by
Soviet geologist Vladimir Shchukin and his team. The nearby settlement
of Udachny is named for the deposit. Udachnaya pipe is controlled by
Russian diamond company Alrosa, which plans to halt open-pit mining in
favor of underground mining in 2010.
The following truck loader is one of the biggest in the world - lenth 13.36 meters, width 7.78 meters and height 6.65 meters.
This gaint machine appears just a small point in the next image
The suction above the hole resulted in several helicopter crashes, so all flight above the hole is prohibited now.
A view from a satellite
