1957–1967
The almost 60-year history of our company can be divided into several important periods.
The first covers the years of development, and the establishment of the industry and its structure.
Yakutalmaz Trust was created in 1957 in the tent village of Mirny, next to the Mir kimberlite pipe. The same year, it produced the first industrial diamonds. Two years later, it began to supply them abroad under a contract agreement with De Beers Corporation.
Initially, rough diamonds were produced from the Mir kimberlite pipe and adjacent placers. Despite the challenges of working in the remote taiga – such as winter temperatures down to minus 60 degrees, no roads, and extreme distances to industrial centres – nothing stopped the early explorers. Indeed, they drove even further north. In 1961, they began developing the Aikhal pipe – located almost at the Arctic Circle – where living and working conditions were even more severe than in Mirny. During this period, major mines were opened in Western Yakutia. Processing plants and housing settlements, roads and airports were built, and a specialized research and design institute was created. To supply energy to the plants and open-pit mines, these pioneers built the world’s first hydroelectric power station on permafrost, 100 kilometres from Mirny. In 1966, to recognise the scale of these achievements, Yakutalmaz Trust was given the highest award in the Soviet Union: the Order of Lenin.
Major events of these years:
- 1957 – Yakutalmaz Trust created; Processing Plant No. 1 produced first industrial diamonds
- 1960 – Aikhal pipe discovered; Dredge No. 201 commissioned
- 1966 – First rough diamonds obtained at Processing Plant No. 3, in Mirny
- 1967 – First stage of Vilyui HPP begins operation