Uralalmaz is part of the Ruiz group of companies – the holding company of diamantaire Lev Leviev, who works in the diamond and jewelry industry in the CIS. In turn, the Ruiz Group is part of the international holding company Leviev Group of Companies (LGC), one of the largest players in the global diamond and jewelry industry.

The Group’s operations in Russia started in 1990 with the incorporation of the join venture Ruiz Diamonds as a partnership between LGC and Glavalmazzoloto. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the liquidation of Glavalmazzoloto, LGC gained full control of the company.
Uralalmaz was established in 1946 and is the largest diamond mining company in the Ural region. Diamonds extracted by Uralalmaz are unique and are one of the best types in the world in terms of their qualitative characteristics. Uralalmaz’s share of diamonds extracted in Russia is approximately 1%.
The company mainly mines placer deposits. Diamonds extracted in this way are easy to process and have a significantly higher yield factor for finished product (jewelry) as compared to primary diamonds (kimberlites).
Diamond mining history

In 1829, the first diamond in Russia was found at the Krestovozdvizhenskoye gold placer mine in the Gornozavodsky region of the Perm territory.

In 1937, the first systematic surveys began and in 1941, the Uralzoloto group organized the Teplogorskoye diamond placer administration, which united all of the diamond-hunting prospecting teams. In 1946, this organization was transformed into the Ural diamond mining administration – Uralalmaz. Consequently, the Uralalmaz placer mine became the first diamond mining company in Russia. The Uralalmaz placer mine develops alluvial diamond deposits.

After an increase in extraction volume, the place mine was relocated to the Krasnovishersky region, where it has been operating until the present time. ZAO Uralalmaz was established in 2004 on the basis of the placer mine, and it is currently a stably operating diamond mining company.

Diamond mining
 
The placer mine’s yearly output is 60,000 carats. At the present time, total reserves planned for development are around one million carats of diamonds. In order to increase yield, ZAO Uralalmaz is taking a series of serious administrative and technical measures that include organizing parallel work at two of the deposit’s extraction sites and installation of an additional cutting facility and technological station, at which initial rock cutting is done with the aid of pressurized water and special equipment.

The company is also gaining experience in the use of autonomous cutting units in order to assess the economic feasibility of working on small deposits of up to 30,000 carats, with the prospective relocation of digging to a new drill ground – the Levoberezhniye Terrasy r. B. Shchugor field, at the left-bank terraces of the Bolshoi Shchugor River, as well as studying whether to build a drill ground to develop the Verkhovya r. B. Kolchim placer mine, at the headwaters of the Bolshoi Kolchim river, etc.

Geological exploration

In order to further increase the mineral and raw materials base, the placer mine was granted a license for prospecting geological exploration work. The completed operations identified areas that are expedient for geological exploration for the first stage (Volynsky and Klyuchevskoy). The actual time from exploration to the start of extraction is eight to ten years.
Preparations are currently being conducted in anticipation of being granted a development license for the Chikman field in the north of the Perm territory, which has reserves of approximately 500,000 carats.

Official website: http://www.diamonds.ru/site/content/view/full/81