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 open-pit diamond mine is owned and operated by the Aikhal mining and processing division of Russia’s state-owned diamond company Alrosa.
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. Jubilee diamond mine produced 10.4Mt of ore in 2012. The open pit mine is presently operating at a depth of 320m, but is expected to eventually reach 720m(Mambondiyani, n.d.; Sustainability in the Diamond Industry, 2024).
What aspect of operating such a vast diamond mine, particularly in challenging environments, do you find most impressive? Share your insights!
