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A Huge Diamond Mine That Helped Build The Soviet Union (2014)

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Re: A Huge Diamond Mine That Helped Build The Soviet Union (2014)

#51

Post by asveikau »

thriftwy wrote: post #31
asveikau wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you get away from coastal cities you see similar phenomena in the US. I have family that grew up in a coal town in Pennsylvania where coal is long gone. The big employers are mostly fulfilment centers and the primary claim to fame is now its descendants of 19th and 20th century European immigrants enacting discriminatory housing policy towards the new wave of Latino immigrants. A lot has been made about how these…

Why would Latino immigrants move in if there are no jobs or economic activity? Anyway, I guess Pennsylvania is habitable when the push comes to shove. Vorkuta, Mirny or Norilsk simply aren't. They're more like Mars bases.

The line that I heard is that they're getting priced out of the New York region and start moving 2-3 hours west. Adjusted for inflation, they probably make a lot less money than a coal worker did there in the 20th century. I'm not sure the numbers are really as high as the outrage from the "older" population either.

Also, in terms of "Pennsylvania being livable", careful about painting the whole of Pennsylvania with a wide brush. There's an old like about Pennsylvania: it's Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in the middle.

Re: A Huge Diamond Mine That Helped Build The Soviet Union (2014)

#54

Post by dimitar »

WillyOnWheels wrote: post #32
dimitar wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a major cause of potential social instability. The conflict in Donbass also has a similar interpretation: coal production there peaked in the late 70 and by the 90 it was an endlessly subsidized rust belt, with a significant minority of the population being born outside Ukraine. It is a backwater hopelessly reliant on outside help, with widespread violent crime, alcoholism, drug use and corruption. It is these…

I hate GDP statistics but it is generally understood that the Donbass' mining and heavy industry account for about 1/4 of Ukraine's GDP and 10 percent of Ukraine's population. You may think it's a backwater but people actually live and work there.

Yes, these two oblasts are a great reason not to look solely at GDP figures.

It is largely a statistical illusion - a huge part of Ukrainian economy is in the gray sector. However government transfers, budget spending and industry does show up in statistics.

The two Donbass oblasts actually scored high on GDP per capita, but had much lower quality of life indicators. A large reason for this disparity in income is government transfers, like the big pension and health benefits provided to mine workers. You also had huge indirect transfers like the government propping up failing enterprises and buying production from the regions industrial oligarchs.

Re: A Huge Diamond Mine That Helped Build The Soviet Union (2014)

#55

Post by gambiting »

benchaney wrote: post #35
quakeguy wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One comment from that link made me curious. "They should install wind turbines around the perimeter of the hole and take advantage of it! New form of renewable energy – hole in the ground energy!" Clearly a form of joke, but im intrigued to know why this won't work. (Or why it could work)

If you are digging really big holes, there are presumably more efficient geothermal schemes.

Sure, absolutely - but that hole is already there. Is there any way to use it for generating energy somehow?

Re: A Huge Diamond Mine That Helped Build The Soviet Union (2014)

#56

Post by mvindahl »

ortusdux wrote: post #19

This mine is the first thing I zoom in on when checking out a new procedurally generated 3d world map service. It is easy to spot because of the nearby Vilyuy Reservoir built to power the mine. Everyone's algorithm can handle mountians, but I've yet to see one that correctly renders this crater. Even google earth shows the mine as flat.

Not sure, but maybe Google is just using some readily available set of topological data? The hole, being man-made, would display as flat in the same ways that do the buildings of Mirny.

I know for a lot of places, Google use fancy algorithms for extracting information about buildings and trees, and those algorithms never cease to amaze me. Anyway, Mirny is clearly not one of these places.

Re: A Huge Diamond Mine That Helped Build The Soviet Union (2014)

#57

Post by atemerev »

milcron wrote: post #37
ljoshua wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was curious about that particular aspect as well. A little Googling brought me to this rather interesting account of Silver Bears and the market forces at play: http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/diamond/chap17.htm (tl;dr: though unconfirmed a noted diamond expert believed the Soviets had created a diamond cutting machine instead of relying on human cutters, though others disputed the idea.)

It sounds as though they were creating gem-quality synthetic diamonds but kept it on the down-low, and used their Siberian mines as cover.

Doubtful, for several reasons:

1) Synthetic colorless gem-grade diamonds are difficult to make (they can be produced today, about 2-3 times cheaper than natural diamonds, but in small quantities -- and synthetic industrial-grade diamonds are also quite profitable, with significantly larger and accessible market -- but much easier to create).

2) Synthetic diamonds are relatively easy to identify (with microscope and ultraviolet light source)

3) Even today, Russian-sourced gem grade diamonds are somewhat less diverse in size and quality than their non-Russian counterparts -- and their provenance is well documented.

Re: A Huge Diamond Mine That Helped Build The Soviet Union (2014)

#58

Post by tastytang »

willvarfar wrote: post #6

> These diamonds were all of a uniform size and shape and were dubbed 'Silver Bears'. While DeBeers could not understand how the Soviets were producing such a large quantity of gem diamonds of such uniform size, and supposedly from one mine that by DeBeers surveys should not be capable of such diamond production, they were, nevertheless, pressured to purchase them all lest the Soviets simply dump the diamonds on the…

Possibly these unusual diamonds were not mined nor manufactured, but were the result of a meteor impact?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204566/Russia-diamo...

Re: A Huge Diamond Mine That Helped Build The Soviet Union (2014)

#59

Post by nthcolumn »

tastytang wrote: post #58
willvarfar wrote: post #6

> These diamonds were all of a uniform size and shape and were dubbed 'Silver Bears'. While DeBeers could not understand how the Soviets were producing such a large quantity of gem diamonds of such uniform size, and supposedly from one mine that by DeBeers surveys should not be capable of such diamond production, they were, nevertheless, pressured to purchase them all lest the Soviets simply dump the diamonds on the…

Possibly these unusual diamonds were not mined nor manufactured, but were the result of a meteor impact? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204566/Russia-diamo...

Someone told me about this in 2009. I do not know if it is just a rumor. We were in a piano bar in the old town in Zuerich. I did not know them but they were serious people who lead interesting enough lives not to have to make up stories. Although now I see Daily Mail I am beginning to doubt. He said they are all huge, same in size but hard to work and that there was a 'mother' one which was enormous. His friend sang 'Simply the Best' for Putin. Is it true?
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