The world of gemstones : Russia

21% of the world’s diamond production comes from Russia. Most Russian diamonds are extracted in Siberia in harsh conditions with extremely low temperatures. The Mir diamond mine is the largest in the world with a diameter of 1,200 m. In the 1960s the mine was producing 10,000,000 carats (2,000 kg) of diamonds per year, but only 20% were of gemstone quality.

The largest diamond from the mine was found on 23 December 1980; it weighed 342.5 carats (68 g) and was named "26th Congress CPSU".

The rapid development and production of the Mir mine forced the De Beers diamond company to buy up the Russian diamonds to maintain the market price.

The Mir mine was the first and the largest diamond mine in the Soviet Union. Production at the site stopped in June 2001.