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MINING IN RUSSIA
Yakutia Region
Yakutia (Sakha) is located in Eastern Siberia and stretches to the Henrietta Islands in the far north and is washed by the Laptev and Eastern Siberian Seas of the Arctic Ocean. It is the largest republic in the Russian Federation.
Sakha Republic is currently the largest sub-national entity in the World in terms of land area. If a map of Yakutia were superimposed upon a map of the continental (lower 48) states of USA, Yakutia would overlap almost a half. However the population of Yakutia is less then one of a single state such as Rhode Island.
Sakha is well endowed with raw materials. The soil contains large reserves of oil, gas, coal, diamonds, gold, and silver. 99% of all Russian diamonds are mined in Sakha, accounting for over 23% of the world's diamond production.
Natural Resources
 According to geologists, the D.I.Mendeleev's periodical system of chemical elements presents itself fully in Yakutia's land. Diamonds, gold, tin, antimony, gemstones (including "charoite stone" recently found in Yakutia), and many others are the basis on which Sakha Republic economical welfare is built. Moreover the largest fields of oil and natural gas are in Yakutia. Development and processing of them and transportation the gas to Asian-Pacific countries are integral part of economics of the north republic.
In the 1950s one of the wonders of century was named the discovery of diamond deposits and their development in the western Yakutia.
Now the republic develops new diamond pits (Nyurbinskayaand Botuobinskaya), as well as new refining factories. The main institution of the diamond industry is the joint-stock company ALROSA.
Alrosa
Russian diamond monopoly ALROSA produces nearly 100% of the country's diamonds. It also accounts for more than 20% of the world's rough diamonds. The organization, which is jointly owned by the central government in Moscow and the Republic of Sakha, operates mines throughout Russia and Angola.
About 50% of the company's rough diamonds are sold in foreign markets. ALROSA has a distribution agreement with De Beers' marketing arm, The Diamond Trading Company, but is reducing the amount of diamonds it supplies to De Beers. The company also markets its own stones and supports a growing Russian diamond-cutting industry. ALROSA's largest shareholders are the Russian Ministry of State Property (37%), the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where it is based (40%), and various legal entities and individuals (23%).
Worlds Largest Diamond Mine
This diamond mine in eastern Siberia (Mirny, to be exact) is so deep that the surrounding "air zone... is closed for helicopters" after "a few accidents when they were 'sucked in' by downward air flow..." The mine is 500 meters deep.
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