While there are thousands of diamond mines all over the world not a lot of them are commercially viable which means no money for drilling deeper into the earth for more diamonds. But there are a handful of highly profitable mines and some of them are bigger and indeed deeper than you would possibly imagine…
Botuobinskaya Diamond Mine
10 – Botuobinskaya Diamond Mine, Russia
More Info: Located in the Yakutia region of Russia, the Botuobinskaya diamond mine is estimated to contain roughly 70 million carats. The mine, which is scheduled to commence production in 2015, is owned and operated by Nyurba mining and processing division of ALROSA.
Orapa Diamond Mine
9 – Orapa Diamond Mine, Africa
More Info: As the world’s largest diamond mine by area, the Orapa diamond mine is located 240km west of Francistown city in Central Botswana. The open-pit mine is estimated to contain 85.7 million carats of diamond reserves.
Jwaneng Diamond Mine
8 – Jwaneng Diamond Mine, Africa
More Info: Another major diamond mine is Botswana is the Jwaneng site, which is located 160 miles south-west of Gaborone in south central Botswana.
Grib Diamond Mine
7 – Grib Diamond Mine, Russia
More Info: Located in the north-western part of Russia, Grib is an open-pit diamond mine estimated to contain over 98 million carats. The mine is expected to become the largest diamond mine in Russia in terms of size.
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Venetia Diamond Mine
6 – Venetia Diamond Mine, South Africa
More Info: Owned and operated by De Beers, the Venetia diamond mine is estimated to contain more than 102 million carats.
Catoca Diamond Mine
5 – Catoca Diamond Mine, Africa
More Info: Located in Angola, the Catoca is the fifth largest diamond mine in the world. Operated by Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, the mine is a joint venture with state-owned diamond company Endiama and ALROSA.
Argyle Diamond Mine
4 – Argyle Diamond Mine, Australia
More Info: Owned and operated by Rio Tinto, the mine has been in production since 1983 with peak production expected to hit 20 million carats a year.
Mir Diamond Mine
3 – Mir Diamond Mine, Russia
More Info: Before decommissioning in 2001, the Mir mine was the largest diamond mine in the world. Discovered in 1955, the Mir diamond mine is owned and operated by ALROSA and estimated to contain 141 million carats of diamonds.
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Udachny Diamond Mine
2 – Udachny Diamond Mine, Russia
More Info: One of many diamond mines owned by ALROSA, the Udachny mine in Russia is on pace to become the largest diamond mine in the world.
Jubilee Diamond Mine
1 – Jubilee Diamond Mine, Russia
More Info: Ranking number one on our list, the Jubilee diamond mine in Russia is the epitome of producing mines. The site is estimated to contain more than 153 million carats of recoverable diamonds, including 51 million carats of probably underground reserves.