In remotest Siberia, Alrosa Co. produces something around 10% of the worlds diamonds out of this single pit.
The hole is over a mile across and shows up great in the new database.

[image]http://www.pbase.com/avkie7/image/29856430[/image]

Nice find! I think the Bingham Canyon mine in Utah ( see this post ) is bigger.

That one is pretty big as well...

Someone sent me the an e-mail with some amazing photos, decided to look it up. Unfortunately the resolution is not too breathtaking and the photos I have won't classify for an overlay.

VENETIA DIAMOND MINE, SOUTH AFRICA

web page

According to Lockergnome, THIS ONE is the LARGEST open-pit mine. I am not entirely sure though if it is the largest mine or the largest copper mine...

Quote:

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Chuquicamata or "Chuqui" as it is commonly called, is the largest open pit copper mine in the world. It is located 250 km northeast of the city of Antofagasta in Chile. The mine is elliptical in form, with a surface of almost 8,000,000 m2, and it is 680 m deep.

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Interesting question: how do you define biggest? The Russians are like the Texans, they are very proud of bigness. The Utah mine from this thread is definitely bigger in surface area. How about volume?

Interestingly, The Venetia mine in South Africa is also owned by Alrosa. Overall, Alrosa claims they control 1/3 of world diamond reserves.

The world's largest underground mine is in Chile, and it too is a copper mine. It is El Teniente , owned by Codelco.

Quote:

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Since 1905, there have been over 2000 kms of tunnels constructed of which some 800 kms are used today. Each year about 64 kms of new tunnels and galleries are excavated.

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I believe that picture is not from El Teniente, but Sewell, a mining camp -also from Chile- that is �advancing? to become one of UNESCO's humanity patrimony sites (because the way it was constructed)

I think Sewell was the city and El Teniente is the mine... i'm not quite sure. More than half of Sewell was demolish, only a little portion was preserved to request UNESCO's approval

I don't know whether this one is really the largest, however it is a HUGE one. It is located inside the city of Mirnyj, Russia. 1200m wide and 525m deep.

Here are some pretty interesting photos:
Overview:


The truck that is used in the mine:


You can see (well, those of you with sharp vision ) the same truck pointed by the red arrow:




Satellite image:

Anther similar size diamond mine in Russia someone's getting rich!

Cool finds... I am currently working at an Open Pit Diamond Mine in the Canadian Tundra. Ours isnt as big, but the tricky part is that the diamonds are in the lake...

Transportation is a private airstrip, or an ice road built on the lakes during the winter...

You can see the location, but the satellite image on earthviewer must be alot older as they are already starting the construction of the second open pit. And the resolution is poor. If you browse around the area you can find a few more diamond mines in the area...

Canada is set to overtake south africa in diamond production, making them the number 2 producer in the world.

Heres some pics up to 2004...





Jordan