The Arkhangelsk Region intends to be actively involved in the new state strategy for the development of the mineral resource base, designed until 2050. The document envisions the development of a leading edge in the exploration and development of minerals needed for the growing domestic industry. In turn, the governor of the Arkhangelsk Region, Alexander Tsybulsky, noted in his instructions to the relevant agencies that 'it is necessary to send our proposals taking into account the existing plans for diamond mining to develop the Pavlovskoye deposit, which has the most powerful natural reserves.'

The Arkhangelsk diamondiferous province is the only place in Europe where transparent gems of high value are mined. It accounts for 21.4% of the world's diamond reserves, ranking second after Yakutia. In 2017, the only proven reserves were 248.7 mn carats, of which, however, 7.5 mn carats were immediately mined that year. Two fields are being developed in the Pomorie today—the one named after M.V. Lomonosov in the Primorsky municipal district and the one named after V.P. Grib in the Mezensky district. The first is being developed by Severalmaz and the second by JSC AGD DIAMONDS.



The Lomonosov deposit contains 16% of Russia's total diamond reserves. It was discovered in 2003, and already in 2005, the first stage of the mining and processing plant with a capacity of 1 mn tons of ore per year started operating at the deposit. Just three years later, Severalmaz mined its millionth carat of diamonds, and in 2014, the second stage of the plant with a capacity of 3 mn tons of ore per year was put into operation. Today, the company produces approximately 4.2 mn carats of diamonds per year. You have to dig long, deep and with enthusiasm. The Arkhangelskaya kimberlite pipe open pit is 1 km in diameter and 200 m deep. The second pipe, Karpinskogo-1, discovered in 2009, is more modest in size. Its quarry is only 800 m in diameter and 320 m deep. Additional difficulties for ore miners come from underground water, which floods the well at an intensity of 400 cu m per hour. The water has to be pumped out by pumping stations. The Lomonosov deposit includes a total of 6 kimberlite pipes, 4 of which are yet to be developed. By the way, Arkhangelsk diamonds are distinguished not only by the geography of their location but also by their shape. Unlike the majority of diamonds found in the world, which are octahedron-shaped, Pomor stones are mostly rounded rhombododecahedrons (a rhombododecahedron is a twelve-sided diamond, each face of which is a rhombus).

The Grib field started to be developed later. In just four years, from 2010 to 2014, AGD Diamonds, a subsidiary of the great and mighty Alrosa, erected a state-of-the-art mine and quarry to quickly start developing the 100 mn carats of diamond deposits under their feet. According to Vedomosti, the company has reached a production target of 4.5 mn carats in 2023 and has envisioned radical changes. Instead of the usual open-pit method, AGD Diamonds intends to switch to closed-pit diamond digging by 2028. So far, only Alrosa has managed to build mines in Yakutia, but there, according to a number of experts, the situation with rocks and soils is completely different. However, AGD Diamonds itself is optimistic about the future, pointing to the almost 100% import substitution of the technologies at its disposal and the tremendous experience of its employees. So far, the volume of investments by the management of the mine is estimated at more than RUB 10 bn.



However, the management of the Arkhangelsk Region does not stop at the existing projects. Today, the region is actively searching for new diamond deposits—expeditions are working in the Onezhsky area and Plesetsky district, as well as in the already developed Primorsky and Mezensky districts. Apparently, geologists, miners and the region's leadership hope to shake Yakutia's throne as the main 'diamond region' of the country. In addition, in the pursuit of gemstones, scientists find deposits of other useful minerals. Thus, deposits of lead and zinc, bauxite, limestone, gypsum, iodine, mineral water and other underground gifts of nature were discovered.

Image attribution: Shutterstock