The depletion of diamond-yielding sands in the Arctic means that by 2030 the production of alluvial diamonds will decrease by at least three times, forcing miners to switch to searching for primary diamond deposits. Signs of several deposits of this kind with significant reserves of large diamonds have been found in Yakutia, noted Academician Nikolay Pokhilenko, Deputy Chairman of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Researchers suggest that miners should switch to searching for primary diamond deposits. In their opinion, the decline in demand for gem-grade stones will be over sooner or later since it is only an effect of the economic recession caused by the pandemic.

'The Arctic zone of Yakutia shows signs that there are more ancient, Middle Palaeozoic pipes in the area (kimberlite pipes are solidified magma which may contain diamonds – TASS note) that are about 370 million years old, similar to the Udachnaya and Mir diamond pipes and contain significant volumes of large, expensive diamonds,' says Pokhilenko.

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