The Yubileinaya Diamond Pipe was discovered in 1975 18 kilometers away from the Aikhal Settlement. Diamond reserves in this pipe were explored in two stages – to a depth of 500 meters at the first stage and to a depth of 1100 meters at the second stage. The mining, geological and hydro-geological conditions at the Yubileinaya Pipe, as well as the severe climate, create a rather complex environment for working at the field. Nevertheless, miners have attained the fullest possible extraction of reserves containing a relatively high content of commercial component and they have closed out the possibility of inflow of mineralized waters into the opencast mine.

According to the first design, the depth of the opencast mine in the central and western sections must be 500 meters, and 400 meters in the eastern section. The term of development of the opencast mine’s explored reserves (first stage) was planned to last 27 years. Intensive growth of the mine’s production capacities started with the commissioning of Mill No. 14 in 1996.

A program for the renovation of the mine has been approved, after which it will be developed using the open-cut method to a depth of 700 meters. Renovation will also facilitate increasing the field’s term of development. The Yubileiny opencast mine is being developed with standard technology, using large dump trucks and drilling-and-blasting processes.

In the near future, the development of the Aikhal Mining and Processing Combine will include a planned increase of ore extraction based on expansion of the Yubileiny opencast mine’s production capacities.