The project carries an estimated cost of 20 billion rubles and targets annual production of over 4 million tonnes of diamond ore.
“The project will significantly extend mining at Udachnaya, which currently accounts for more than 10% of Russia’s rough diamond output,” said Alrosa CEO Pavel Marinychev. “From 2025 through 2055, the mine will produce 4.1 million tonnes of ore per year, generating estimated annual profits of nearly 6 billion rubles.”
The Udachny underground mine, operational since 2014 and reaching full design capacity in 2021, contributed roughly 14% of Alrosa’s total diamond output in 2021, mining 4.4 million carats of the group’s 32.4 million carats.
The newly approved project will extend mining to depths of up to 1.13 km below the surface, down to an absolute elevation of -780 meters, compared with the previous plan targeting -680 meters by 2039. Construction will proceed alongside the deepening of mine workings and is expected to continue until 2040, with full extraction planned for 2055 at the earliest.
All necessary approvals have been obtained from the state expert review office Glavgosexpertiza, and the feasibility study has been formally approved. Mining will combine established, efficient technologies with innovative digital systems. Alrosa is already employing artificial intelligence to monitor truck loading, conveyor conditions, and remotely control hammers for oversized ore.
Open-pit mining at the Udachnaya pipe began in 1967, while the Fyodor Andreyev Udachny underground mine was opened in 2014 to access deeper deposits. The underground facility employs over 1,200 people and forms part of the Udachny mining and processing combine, the city’s largest employer. Reserves at Udachnaya have been explored to depths of 1,635 meters from the surface.
