Aug 2, 2011: Images of the world's 10 largest excavations and natural chasms

Mirny Mine is a disused open pit diamond mine located in eastern Siberia, Russia. It is 525m deep, 1.2km across and is so vast that the airspace over it is closed to air traffic because of the risks posed by downward drafts the flow in to the mine. The mine was discovered in 1953 and, at one point, the mine was producing 10,000,000 carats of diamonds (2,000kgs) annually.