Mining began on 1957, in extremely harsh climate conditions.
The Siberian winter lasted seven months which froze the ground, making it hard to mine.
Buildings had to be raised on piles, so that they would not sink.
The main processing plant had to be built on better ground, found 20 km away from the mine.
The winter temperatures were so low that car tires and steel would shatter and oil would freeze.
The entire mine had to be covered at night to prevent the machinery from freezing.
This worried De Beers company, which at that time was distributing most of the world’s diamonds.
The company was forced to buy larger and larger shipments of high-quality Russian diamonds to control the market price.
For De Beers, Mir was a puzzling mystery.
The mines enormous output was not consistent with the relatively small size of the mine.
Finally, in 1976, De Beers requested a tour of the Mir mine to satisfy their curiosity.
The visit did little to shed light on the mystery of the Mirs diamond production.
Sources:Wikipedia,Abazias
