
A Huge Diamond Mine That Helped Build The Soviet Union (2014) - mitul_45
http://gizmodo.com/the-nearly-mile-wide-diamond-mine-that-helped-build-the-1593234924
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ortusdux
This mine is the first thing I zoom in on when checking out a new procedurally
generated 3d world map service. It is easy to spot because of the nearby
Vilyuy Reservoir built to power the mine. Everyone's algorithm can handle
mountians, but I've yet to see one that correctly renders this crater. Even
google earth shows the mine as flat.

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anigbrowl
_a new procedurally generated 3d world map service_

Don't tempt us with interesting details like that and then leave out the name
:)

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traek
S/he gave an example already--Google Earth. Apple Maps also has generated 3D
maps.

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willvarfar
> These diamonds were all of a uniform size and shape and were dubbed 'Silver
> Bears'. While DeBeers could not understand how the Soviets were producing
> such a large quantity of gem diamonds of such uniform size, and supposedly
> from one mine that by DeBeers surveys should not be capable of such diamond
> production, they were, nevertheless, pressured to purchase them all lest the
> Soviets simply dump the diamonds on the open market, thus flooding it and
> bringing down diamond prices.

What's the speculation as to their surprising abundance and uniformity?

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ghostly_s
The general opinion is this is a synthetic diamond laundering operation.
Synthetic diamonds are of course chemically identical to natural, but natural
diamonds still fetch a higher price.

~~~
gambiting
I thought there were ways to tell synthetic from natural? Surely DeBeers were
particularly interested in discrediting Soviet diamonds and if they could find
proof that those were indeed synthetic, they would have used it?

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willvarfar
I recall watching a documentary where the reporters got diamond merchants to
test some diamonds. Many of the synthetics were easily spotted but one - from
a new technique or something - was only spotted because it was "too pure".

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Alupis
That's how all synthetics are identified... natural diamonds all contain
impurities from the material they were formed near/in.

It's sort of funny in a way... impure diamonds are worth more than pure
diamonds... but then again, none of them would be worth much at all if DeBeers
didn't control the release into the market (diamonds are not rare at all, and
therefore only valuable due to artificial scarcity).

~~~
gozur88
Seems like you ought to be able to create a process that adds impurities that
mimic natural diamonds.

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supahfly_remix

      Helicopters can't fly over it—the downward force of the air would pull them in.
    

Can someone explain the physics of this? The air above the hold is at the same
pressure as that beside the hole, otherwise there would be a constant wind.
Also, above a certain altitude helicopters don't rely on ground effects.

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georgecmu
_If a hole is deep enough — and a half-kilometer deep hole qualifies — the
earth will warm the air inside it. The deeper the hole, the warmer the air.
Warm air rises, and cool air sinks, so with a big temperature difference
between in-hole air and aboveground air, you get quite a bit of air movement.

Thus, two things are happening. First, the warm air rising from the hole is
less dense and gives less lift to helicopter rotors than the cooler air it had
been flying through. Since the temperature change is extremely abrupt as the
helicopter flies over the hole, the pilot may lose a bunch of altitude before
managing to adjust the speed enough (read: increase the spin rate of the
rotors) to compensate for the loss of lift.

At the same time, the cool air pouring into that hole from all sides is going
to create quite a wind shear. If a helicopter loses enough lift to hit the
stream of cold air, it could easily be slammed into the side of the borehole
before it ever developed enough lift or power to recover._

[https://oregonexpat.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/the-
helicopter-...](https://oregonexpat.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/the-helicopter-
sucking-hole-in-the-ground/)

~~~
quakeguy
One comment from that link made me curious.

"They should install wind turbines around the perimeter of the hole and take
advantage of it! New form of renewable energy – hole in the ground energy!"

Clearly a form of joke, but im intrigued to know why this won't work. (Or why
it could work)

~~~
benchaney
If you are digging really big holes, there are presumably more efficient
geothermal schemes.

~~~
flukus
These typically require large investments to build and suffer from other
problems like salt corrosion, whereas putting wind turbines in seems like a
very quick win.

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EA
Google Maps view:
[https://goo.gl/maps/HufFo7ZMP1T2](https://goo.gl/maps/HufFo7ZMP1T2)

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thriftwy
In 1955 Soviet Union was already built. The peak of Soviet period is 1965,
which is pretty close.

~~~
thriftwy
Then there's this consideration:

In Europe, most of towns are historic, they're in good places and can take any
place in economic system.

In America, there are towns dedicated to mining or specialized farming
(rubber?), but they quickly get abandoned when mine is exhausted or the output
is no longer needed.

Soviet Union built quite a few towns in remote northern locations, they were
way bigger than feasible for mining - like a general purpose settlement. Guess
what, now it's hard to rationalize their existence, but people are stuck there
and see it as their home. People aren't very mobile in Russia.

I imagine even when diamond mining is over we're going to pretend that this is
just another town that can get jobs on its own and it will be held afloat by
redistribution. It's going to be pretty miserable place for sure, I imagine.

~~~
dimitar
It is a major cause of potential social instability.

The conflict in Donbass also has a similar interpretation: coal production
there peaked in the late 70 and by the 90 it was an endlessly subsidized rust
belt, with a significant minority of the population being born outside
Ukraine. It is a backwater hopelessly reliant on outside help, with widespread
violent crime, alcoholism, drug use and corruption. It is these rust belts
that lower the statistics for the whole Eastern Europe. Young people were
leaving it in droves long before the current conflict began.

The disruption by current separatist governments (commanded and supplied by
the Russian Federation) have made the decay much quicker - around half the
population has left, with a big part of the people remaining being seniors who
cross checkpoints to collect their pensions.

~~~
WillyOnWheels
I hate GDP statistics but it is generally understood that the Donbass' mining
and heavy industry account for about 1/4 of Ukraine's GDP and 10 percent of
Ukraine's population.

You may think it's a backwater but people actually live and work there.

~~~
dimitar
Yes, these two oblasts are a great reason not to look solely at GDP figures.

It is largely a statistical illusion - a huge part of Ukrainian economy is in
the gray sector. However government transfers, budget spending and industry
does show up in statistics.

The two Donbass oblasts actually scored high on GDP per capita, but had much
lower quality of life indicators. A large reason for this disparity in income
is government transfers, like the big pension and health benefits provided to
mine workers. You also had huge indirect transfers like the government
propping up failing enterprises and buying production from the regions
industrial oligarchs.

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jpatokal
This is one of many insane places on Koryo's "Abandoned Russia" tours, which
have long been on my bucket list:

[https://koryogroup.com/tours/84](https://koryogroup.com/tours/84)

From $7,300/person, but you'll need to wait until next year since this year's
kicked off today.

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c517402
The article says that helicopters can't fly over the mine. But, the end of the
runway is close by and the flight path is almost tangent to the edge of the
hole.
[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mirny,+Sakha+Republic,+Rus...](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mirny,+Sakha+Republic,+Russia,+678171/@62.525739,114.0111885,14z/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x5c7cbad695e42b5d:0xe2626d503aba7a8)

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jeffdavis
Can someone please explain why a helicopter can't go over the hole but a plane
can?

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ocschwar
Diamonds. Is there anything they won''t do?

They can prop up Stalinism regimes. They can prop up apartheid. They can prop
up the likes of Mobutu Sese Seko.

So lovely.

