In August of 2009, a year earlier than planned, the first facility of the Mir underground mine began operation.
Mir is Russia's second underground diamond mine. Internatsionalny, the largest underground diamond mine, began operation in 1999.
The Mir open pit diamond mine produced $17 billion worth of diamonds over its period of operation and is synonymous with the Russian diamond mining industry.
The explored ore reserves are located at a depth of 1,250 metres (actual elevation 900 metres).
Alrosa spent 22 billion roubles on the construction of the mine, and the full cost recovery is 3.5 years. It will take 50 years to exploit the explored ore reserves. The first stage will take 34 years, and the second 16 years.
The annual project capacity of the mine is one million tons. In 2009, 150,000 tons of ore will be transferred to the processing plant. The length of the mine's excavations is over 10 kilometres. Mine facilities on the surface are 60 metres high.
Three hundred people work at the mine. Seven hundred additional jobs will be created in the near future.