Category: Amazing Excavations
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The Big Hole (Kimberley, South Africa)
The Big Hole in Kimberley, South Africa is reputed to be the largest hand dug hole in the world. The Big Hole is 463 metres wide and was dug to a depth of 240 m – though infilling and water-accumulation have left just 175 m of the hole visible. It’s now a show mine complete…
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Mirna Diamond Mine (Mirny, Russia)
“Mirna Mine is a former open pit diamond mine, now inactive, located in Mirny, Eastern Siberia, Russia. The mine is 525 meters (1,722 ft) deep (4th in the world) and has a diameter of 1,200 m (3,900 ft), and is the second largest excavated hole in the world, after Bingham Canyon Mine. The airspace above the mine is…
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Super Pit Gold Mine (Australia)
This renowned Kalgoorlie-Boulder landmark is currently 2.2 miles long, almost a mile wide and 1200 feet deep, and will eventually stretch 2.4 miles long, one mile wide and reach a depth exceeding 1600 feet. Since 1893, when Irishman Paddy Hannan first made his famous discovery, more than 50 million ounces (1700 US tons) of gold…
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Bingham Canyon Mine (Utah, United States)
Also known as the Kennecott Copper Mine, the Bingham Canyon Mine near Salt Lake City, Utah (USA) is the largest excavation on earth. Amount (as of 2004) and value (market prices as of April 19, 2012) of metals mined: 34 billion pounds of copper at $3.66/lb = $124 billion 23 million ounces of gold at…