Rock to Ring: Diamonds in Siberia

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

RUSSIAN FEDERATION | Tuesday, 8 November 2011 | Views [542]

3. A lady wearing a diamond ring sorts through the diamond rough at Alrosa's main sorting plant in Mirny. Only 20% of mined diamonds are of gem quality - the rest are used for industrial purposes.

2. The colourful, yet eerie control centre at one of Alrosa's diamond processing plants in Mirny. It takes 5-10 tons of ore to produced one carat of diamond rough. For a multi-billion-dollar industry, this office seems remarkably underwhelming.

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4. The diamond mining industry is critical to Yakutia's economy - and I found this picture of an incomplete ladder on the side of a building rather symbolic. There's a mixture of hope and torment: for there appears to be no way of getting on to the first rung of the ladder. Mirny's buildings are often bright and colourful - perhaps in a bid to lift morale in a place of total isolation and freezing temperatures.

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Rock to Ring: Diamonds in Siberia

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

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