World’s 5 biggest diamond mines — Sarafa News

The 5 largest diamond mines in the world by measurable reserves contain more than 1 billion carats of recoverable diamonds. Russia is a home to half of the world’s biggest diamond mines, while Botswana houses 2; including the world’s largest diamond producing mine Orapa.

So, here’s the list of world’s top 5 biggest diamond mines.

Jubilee:

Jubilee, also known as the Yubileyny diamond mine, located in Sakha (Yakutia), Republic of Russia, is the biggest diamond mine in the world. The mine was estimated to contain more than 153 million carats (Mct) of recoverable diamonds, including 51Mct of probable underground reserves as of January 2013.

The mine has been in production since 1986. It extracts diamond ore from the Yubileynaya kimberlite pipe, which was estimated to contain Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC)-compliant probable reserves of 107.163 million tonnes (Mt) grading 0.90 carat per tonne (ct/t) as of July 2013.

Udachny:

The Udachny diamond mine, also located in the Yakutia region of Russia, ranks as the world’s second largest diamond mine by reserve size. Estimated diamond reserves at the mine exceeded 152Mct as of January 2013.

The Udachnaya pipe discovered in 1955 is the largest diamond deposit in Russia. Udachny, which is one of the deepest open pit mines in the world, produced 10Mct of diamonds a year until 2011. The open pit operation is, however, expected to close in 2014, while the underground operation is expected to continue for more than 30 years.

Mir:

Mir or Mirny, another diamond mine in the Yakutia region of Russia, is the third biggest diamond mine in the world. The underground diamond mine was estimated to contain more than 141Mct of probable diamond reserves as of January 2013.

The Mir pipe was discovered in 1955. Open-pit mining started in 1957 and closed in 2001. Underground mining at Mir has been underway since 2009. The mine produced 497,000 tonnes of ore in 2012. The production is expected to reach 1Mt by 2014.

Argyle:

Argyle diamond mine located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia ranks as the world’s biggest diamond mine if JORC reserves alone are taken into account. The recoverable diamond reserve at Argyle as of December 2012 was estimated to be 140Mct (67Mt grading 2.1ct/t diamond).

At peak production, Argyle Underground is expected to produce 20Mct of diamonds a year, which will make it the largest diamond producing mine in the world.

The open pit mine has produced more than 791Mct of diamonds in its life, which the company believes will extend beyond 2020.

Catoca:

Catoca diamond mine in Angola ranks as the fifth biggest diamond mine in the world. The Catoca open-pit located near Saurimo, around 840km east of Luanda, is estimated to contain up to 130Mct of mineable diamonds.

Catoca mine produced 6.5Mct of diamonds from around 10Mt of ore in 2012, which accounted for about 70% of Angola’s total diamond output. The open-pit currently operating at a depth exceeding 200m is scheduled to reach at least 600m deep. The mine life of Catoca is extendable up to 30 years.

Originally published at https://sarafaportal.allindiasarafabazaar.com on May 17, 2019.