Mir Diamond PipeIt began life as a fox hole in a remote ravine. But after an eagle-eyed geologist spotted its potential as a diamond mine, it grew and grew... and grew.
Today, 50 years after its discovery, the Mir Diamond Pipe in eastern Siberia is the biggest man-made hole in the world.
It plunges 574 yards into the frozen earth and its vast mouth has a diameter of almost one mile, making it clearly visible from Space.
The 220-ton rock-hauling trucks that labour down the spiralling road to its bottom take two hours to travel back up to its lip and look like matchbox toys against the gargantuan rock face.
The mine — known in Russian as a trubka — is now largely disused since its official closure in April 2004, but its legend lives on.
Big Hole excavated by hand
The Big Hole is a huge open-pit mine in Kimberley, South Africa and claimed to be the largest hole excavated by hand. From 1866 to 1914 50 000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2 722 kg of diamonds. The Big Hole has a surface of 17 hectares and is 463 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240 m but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 m; since then it has accumulated water to a depth of 40 m leaving 175 m visible. The underground Kimberly Mine was mined to a depth of 1097 metres. There is currently an effort in progress to register the Big Hole as a World Heritage Site. Source
The Big Hole is a huge open-pit mine in Kimberley, South Africa and claimed to be the largest hole excavated by hand. From 1866 to 1914 50 000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2 722 kg of diamonds. The Big Hole has a surface of 17 hectares and is 463 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240 m but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 m; since then it has accumulated water to a depth of 40 m leaving 175 m visible. The underground Kimberly Mine was mined to a depth of 1097 metres. There is currently an effort in progress to register the Big Hole as a World Heritage Site. Source
The Blue Hole of Belize
The Blue Hole is a perfectly circular limestone sinkhole more than 300 feet across and 412 feet deep. The array of bizarre stalactites and limestone formations which mould its walls seem to become more intricate and intense the deeper one dives. Near to The Blue Hole, one of Belize's largest protected areas, Half Moon Caye Natural Monument, encompasses 10,000 acres of the atoll and 15 square miles of surrounding waters. . . .
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Lavender Pit
It's the largest mankind hole in the earth I've ever seen. The abandoned pit is 950 feet (290 m) deep, that's like almost 100-floor skyscraper. I also paid attention to interesting colours and shape of some rocks down. If your sight is good, you should see very little entrance to an undergraound tunnel far down on the left, above the dark brown, acid water of the bottom pond.
Well, I am not a fun of geology and I stopped at this place by coincidence looking for a parking lot to get some food from a trunk. Driving Highway 80 east from Old Bisbee towards Douglas I had to notice information signs on Lavender pit observation photo point. But I had no idea what Lavander pit meant in English. I thought about flowers (lavenders) while in reality Lavander is a surname. And I sadly thought about PIT that's in Polish a name of the tax form we have to fill in annually by 31 April.
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Lavender Pit
It's the largest mankind hole in the earth I've ever seen. The abandoned pit is 950 feet (290 m) deep, that's like almost 100-floor skyscraper. I also paid attention to interesting colours and shape of some rocks down. If your sight is good, you should see very little entrance to an undergraound tunnel far down on the left, above the dark brown, acid water of the bottom pond.
Well, I am not a fun of geology and I stopped at this place by coincidence looking for a parking lot to get some food from a trunk. Driving Highway 80 east from Old Bisbee towards Douglas I had to notice information signs on Lavender pit observation photo point. But I had no idea what Lavander pit meant in English. I thought about flowers (lavenders) while in reality Lavander is a surname. And I sadly thought about PIT that's in Polish a name of the tax form we have to fill in annually by 31 April.
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Worlds biggest holes
Reviewed by Bobby
on
09:21
Rating:
Reviewed by Bobby
on
09:21
Rating:
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