Gigantic hole
March 12, 2007 8:03 PM Subscribe
The giant spiraling hole in the ground near Mirny, Russia in Siberia is perhaps the world's largest open pit diamond mine. More giant holes.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble
Wow, somehow terrifying. The spiraling shape will make you go insane!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:09 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 8:09 PM on March 12, 2007
So this giant 525 meter deep hole is an exhausted mine that has no use any more. How nice of them to leave such a present to the people in that town.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:14 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by Rhomboid at 8:14 PM on March 12, 2007
Kewl! Thanks! I like to look at pictures of big holes....
posted by metasonix at 8:30 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by metasonix at 8:30 PM on March 12, 2007
That there's one big ol' gaht-damn hole, I'm a-tellin' yew!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:47 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:47 PM on March 12, 2007
The town probably wouldn't have existed without the hole
posted by Count at 8:47 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by Count at 8:47 PM on March 12, 2007
All I can think of when I look at those pictures is that the earth must be pissed.
posted by a bad enough dude at 8:49 PM on March 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by a bad enough dude at 8:49 PM on March 12, 2007 [1 favorite]
Victims of the almighty Sarlacc: His Excellency hopes that you will die honorably. But should any of you wish to beg for mercy, the great Jabba the Hutt will now listen to your pleas.
posted by Dukebloo at 9:15 PM on March 12, 2007 [4 favorites]
posted by Dukebloo at 9:15 PM on March 12, 2007 [4 favorites]
As a Texan, my initial reaction to the hole was, of course, "well, it's pretty big, I guess. But not giant."
From a comment in the last link: "Russians are very much like Texans, they are very proud of bigness."
posted by cubby at 9:17 PM on March 12, 2007
From a comment in the last link: "Russians are very much like Texans, they are very proud of bigness."
posted by cubby at 9:17 PM on March 12, 2007
I can't believe mined diamonds are worth that much more than synthetic.
posted by sourwookie at 9:22 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by sourwookie at 9:22 PM on March 12, 2007
Extremely annoying constant rapid dissolve wipes of the photos on main page while trying to read text. Site needs to calm down and trust its content.
posted by longsleeves at 9:22 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by longsleeves at 9:22 PM on March 12, 2007
My football coach says that I don't know the difference between my ass and this.
posted by ColdChef at 9:47 PM on March 12, 2007 [4 favorites]
posted by ColdChef at 9:47 PM on March 12, 2007 [4 favorites]
My football coach says that I don't know the difference between my ass and this.
Is this the part where someone mentions goatse?
posted by logicpunk at 9:56 PM on March 12, 2007
Is this the part where someone mentions goatse?
posted by logicpunk at 9:56 PM on March 12, 2007
Why not fill it in with all the earth that was taken out? Minus the pretty little rocks, of course. Or make a missle silo.
posted by longsleeves at 10:00 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by longsleeves at 10:00 PM on March 12, 2007
Or a jello mold for the world's largest Devo hat?
posted by ColdChef at 10:01 PM on March 12, 2007 [4 favorites]
posted by ColdChef at 10:01 PM on March 12, 2007 [4 favorites]
I wonder how long it took to make that hole. Given the size differential between the current hole and the extremely large Tonka truck in picture 2, my seat-of-the-pants guess is: awhile.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:09 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:09 PM on March 12, 2007
Too bad they didn't get a picture of the giant sandworms that live in that thing...
posted by miss lynnster at 10:12 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by miss lynnster at 10:12 PM on March 12, 2007
C_D, if I remember right, it had something to do with Starbrand and a dumbbell, and it was almost instantaneous.
posted by Chuckles at 10:14 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by Chuckles at 10:14 PM on March 12, 2007
Kinda reminds me of the 'moholes' from Red Dune. Only smaller.
posted by PenDevil at 10:14 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by PenDevil at 10:14 PM on March 12, 2007
According to some googling, it opened in 1957 and was decommissioned in 2004.
posted by Rhomboid at 10:18 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by Rhomboid at 10:18 PM on March 12, 2007
Evel Knievel should jump this. It would be the perfect cap to his career.
From his official biography...
... he went on to win the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski Association Class A Men's ski jumping championship in 1957... He then formed the Butte Bombers semiprofessional hockey team, acting as owner, manager, coach and player. He worked in the copper mines as a contract miner, skip tender and diamond drill operator. After a stint in the US Army where he pole vaulted and ran the 220 on the Army track team, he ran his own hunting guide service in Montana...
posted by billder at 10:22 PM on March 12, 2007
From his official biography...
... he went on to win the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski Association Class A Men's ski jumping championship in 1957... He then formed the Butte Bombers semiprofessional hockey team, acting as owner, manager, coach and player. He worked in the copper mines as a contract miner, skip tender and diamond drill operator. After a stint in the US Army where he pole vaulted and ran the 220 on the Army track team, he ran his own hunting guide service in Montana...
posted by billder at 10:22 PM on March 12, 2007
Actually... do you think we could throw Britney Spears & Lindsay Lohan in there?
posted by miss lynnster at 10:55 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by miss lynnster at 10:55 PM on March 12, 2007
Actually... do you think we could throw Britney Spears & Lindsay Lohan in there?
Well, we could. But since that pit is so deep and unline and penetrates the deep aquifers in the area, that site is neither suited for or properly prepared for toxic waste.
Bang. Two dead fish in a barrel.
posted by loquacious at 11:15 PM on March 12, 2007
Well, we could. But since that pit is so deep and unline and penetrates the deep aquifers in the area, that site is neither suited for or properly prepared for toxic waste.
Bang. Two dead fish in a barrel.
posted by loquacious at 11:15 PM on March 12, 2007
+d
posted by loquacious at 11:15 PM on March 12, 2007
posted by loquacious at 11:15 PM on March 12, 2007
Holy cow, that's a big hole. It's somehow both awe-inspiring and terrifying. I'm going to go... to the kitchen... where there are no big holes... I think...
If a diamond mine opened up in my kitchen, I'm gonna be pissed.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:08 AM on March 13, 2007
If a diamond mine opened up in my kitchen, I'm gonna be pissed.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:08 AM on March 13, 2007
"So this giant 525 meter deep hole is an exhausted mine that has no use any more. How nice of them to leave such a present to the people in that town."
Filled up with water, it should provide quite a lot of entertainment and cold water fishing opportunities. It's not just a hole, it's a fun zone that isn't being used yet!
posted by Sukiari at 1:30 AM on March 13, 2007
Filled up with water, it should provide quite a lot of entertainment and cold water fishing opportunities. It's not just a hole, it's a fun zone that isn't being used yet!
posted by Sukiari at 1:30 AM on March 13, 2007
Pretty good idea, Sukiari! And since it's in Siberia, they could whip out the snow machines in the fall and have a fucking RAD snowboarding bowl for three-quarters of the year!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:57 AM on March 13, 2007
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:57 AM on March 13, 2007
That's the only spot where there were diamonds? What if they dug another hole next to it?
posted by DU at 4:13 AM on March 13, 2007
posted by DU at 4:13 AM on March 13, 2007
I'd like to see a really big nuke fired in the bottom of this thing, where the blast gets reflected mostly straight upward.
But from a good ways off, of course.
posted by pax digita at 4:21 AM on March 13, 2007
But from a good ways off, of course.
posted by pax digita at 4:21 AM on March 13, 2007
"With a beautiful highschool girl as its protagonist, the story [Uzumaki] concerns the people of a small town in Japan, who become variously fascinated with, terrified of, and consumed by the countless occurrences of natural and artificial spirals." - Junji Ito's 'Uzumaki'
posted by owenkun at 4:37 AM on March 13, 2007
posted by owenkun at 4:37 AM on March 13, 2007
Oh no, not more crotch shots of Britney Spears!
Nah, she's more of a borehole.
posted by Foosnark at 6:48 AM on March 13, 2007
Nah, she's more of a borehole.
posted by Foosnark at 6:48 AM on March 13, 2007
You can zoom pretty far in to this one, and see the tiny power shovels that are digging out the ore, and the tiny trucks that bring it up from the mine.
Of course, that tiny power shovel is one of these, which as you can see by the pickup truck in the photo is about 80 feet high and 150 feet long, the size of a good-sized apartment building.
Them be some mighty large mines, dere.
posted by zoogleplex at 12:53 PM on March 13, 2007
Of course, that tiny power shovel is one of these, which as you can see by the pickup truck in the photo is about 80 feet high and 150 feet long, the size of a good-sized apartment building.
Them be some mighty large mines, dere.
posted by zoogleplex at 12:53 PM on March 13, 2007
That's the only spot where there were diamonds? What if they dug another hole next to it?
Kimberlite, the rock that forms diamonds, originates in the earth's mantle and is pushed to the crust via narrow volcanic "pipes." With the right pressure and temperature, diamonds form within the kimberlite as it is being pushed up. The surface mines are basically excavating these pipes, which range in diameter from from a few hundred meters to about a kilometer, from the top down.
Kimberlite is named after the town of Kimberley, South Africa, where the first deposits were found. Also, the de Beers brothers who lent their name to the giant diamond conglomerate were farmers who found diamonds on their land in South Africa. They sold the the property and the mining rights for 6,000 pounds.
I learned all his today watching the Discovery Channel.
posted by stargell at 5:38 PM on March 13, 2007
Kimberlite, the rock that forms diamonds, originates in the earth's mantle and is pushed to the crust via narrow volcanic "pipes." With the right pressure and temperature, diamonds form within the kimberlite as it is being pushed up. The surface mines are basically excavating these pipes, which range in diameter from from a few hundred meters to about a kilometer, from the top down.
Kimberlite is named after the town of Kimberley, South Africa, where the first deposits were found. Also, the de Beers brothers who lent their name to the giant diamond conglomerate were farmers who found diamonds on their land in South Africa. They sold the the property and the mining rights for 6,000 pounds.
I learned all his today watching the Discovery Channel.
posted by stargell at 5:38 PM on March 13, 2007
The Iranian President is not in that league. Just look at him. He's got no cult of personality going for him. Nada. He's like Dan Quayle.
Yeah, I bet he spells it "potatoes", too.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:47 PM on March 13, 2007
Yeah, I bet he spells it "potatoes", too.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:47 PM on March 13, 2007
Obviously, the above comment was meant for another thread. Move along. Nothing to see here.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:48 PM on March 13, 2007
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:48 PM on March 13, 2007
A giant hole post and no one has yet mentioned your mom? I'm disappointed, Metafilter. Perhaps I expect too much from you.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 9:14 PM on March 13, 2007
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 9:14 PM on March 13, 2007
we have an open cast coal mine in the north island of new zealand, not far from a residential area. It's slowly being filled with water, and later fish will be added, for an insanely deep man made lake. Make a nice gift for those who have put up with an open cast mine next door for years!
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 2:52 AM on March 14, 2007
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 2:52 AM on March 14, 2007
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posted by GavinR at 8:05 PM on March 12, 2007