The Aikhal Diamond Field was discovered on January 22, 1960. The Aikhal Pipe is located in northwest Yakutia, 450 kilometers north of Mirny in the permafrost zone. The field is at the left slope of the valley of the Sohsolookh-Markhinsky stream and consists of the pipe of an explosion extended in a northwesterly direction. In 1960-61, the Aikhal pipe was explored to a depth of 400 meters. In recent years, supplementary exploration of the field was conducted to a depth of 900 meters.

In 1961, after the discovery of the diamond field and the construction of the Aikhal mine, the eponymous settlement Aikhal was established. The settlement is located 500 km north of Mirny, and the population is about 16,000. The principal employer and economic mainstay of the settlement is the Aikhal mining and processing combine, built in 1986 as part of the Sytykansky opencast mine, Factory No. 8, with subsequent increase of production volumes owing to the commissioning of the Yubileiny opencast mine. The Aikhal building and construction group, the Amakinsky prospecting expedition and other organizations which are a part of the joint-stock company Alrosa operate in the settlement environs.

Mining of the Aikhal field started in 1961. In the process of mining and subsequent reconstruction, the bottom of the opencast mine reached a design depth of more than 230 meters in 1997, after which mining excavation was suspended. As part of the field, a trial site for extraction of diamonds using the subsoil method was established.

The high quality of known reserves and the performed environmental calculations showed that mining of the diamond reserves in the Aikhal pipe is profitable to a considerable depth. Therefore, a decision was made to build the Aikhal underground mine.

In 2008, construction of the first stage of the second start-up complex of this mine was completed. In 2008, 150,000 tons of ore were extracted at the site (growth of almost twice the 2007 level) with 110 running meters of underground workings. In total, 86,000 cubic meters of mined rock was brought to the surface. In 2009, extraction of 200,000 tonnes of kimberlite is planned.