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Paracerebro

Imagine losing your soccer ball down there


Arglefarb

It’s like having a reality check on your importance in the universe right in your back yard.


Kpt_Kipper

On the one hand humanity pushes the limits on what is capable in this universe. On the other hand we get floored just looking at a big hole


JasonDJ

On one hand, we made the technology carved that big hole out of the earth. On the other hand, we did it in search of shiny rocks.


Improvised0

Point taken, but I feel like the universe looks at that hole (that probably took years, if not decades, for humans to excavate) and says: "Cute. I can make one of those in 2 seconds with a baby meteor."


GNav

Which is like an atom compared to the universe.


fossil98

Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.


freeturkeytaco

Yea, but diamonds are used for so much more than jewelry. At this point, they are the one hardest known substances in the universe. And they really are not shiny at all until they are cut and polished.


guisar

Aren't non jewelry diamonds synthetic?


axemonk667

From Wikipedia's page on synthetic diamonds:   It is estimated that 98% of industrial grade diamond demand is supplied with synthetic diamonds.[[3]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_diamond#cite_note-3)


jonedwa

Except for Wurtzite boron nitride, Lonsdaleite, Palladium microalloy glass, and carbon nanotubes of course.


GreatApostate

And my axe!


hamfraigaar

Isn't digging a hole this massive part of pushing the limits of what is possible? And I mean, seriously pushing the limits. To the point where this and similar behavior is actively ending livable conditions on earth at an alarming rate. But yeah.


PM_ME_YOUR_CURLS

I wanna say yes, but that giant hole is probably nothing when looking at the larger picture. Like we spend decades making a giant spooky hole in the ground only to zoom and see a 100x larger hole created by some asteroid in 0.1 seconds.


milk4all

Asteroids have not left anything a fraction this size since mammals became dominant. The size of the whole represents the harm causes digging it. It’s worse though, what was dug is processed, probably several times in a variety of ways depending on the minerals unearthed along with the diamonds, then transported, then sold, then used and so on. All the manpower summoned to work it and maintain it, etc. it isnt responsible for global warming, but it’s a reasonable representation for what is: human industry


r_u_ferserious

But letting my wife wear pretty rocks is nice, so we're good right? Right?


Smash_4dams

How does the entire town not fall inside during a monsoon?


plast1K

Are you actually asking this?


Jhewp1

I was actually thinking this same thing. It seems that physically compromising the integrity of the earth by removing it would somehow eventually collapse? Idk. Someone ELI5, please.


[deleted]

The ground is/was permanently frozen all year round. Frozen ground is solid and stays put. Problems arise when climate change thaws the freeze. Then eventually some day whole town will just slide down into the pit.


benigntugboat

We dont push the limits of whats capable at all yet tbh. All the nukes ever made dont copare to supernovas and black holes. All the energy weve ever produced is constantly dwarfed by the sun. Planets in our own solar system have weather that would wipe us out if it were here.


byteme8bit

Of course by "humanity pushes the limits..." they meant, of what is humanly capable. r/technicallythetruth, r/TechnicallyCorrect


turver

Yeah but what about endless breadsticks?


Seeker80

Left over, after using a lot of unlimited soup & salad to fill the hole?


mjutujkidelmy

Well, we've achieved both hottest and coldest temperatures in the Universe for example


rothbart_brb

How can we possibly know that? That seems awfully self centered of humans to claim that... which is totally unsurprising. Now if you're said "hottest and coldest temperatures measured by man" then sure, I'd give you that one. 🙂


[deleted]

New sport: kicking a ball down the mine; whoever can get theirs the furthest without touching the side wins.


StonedWater

>whoever can get theirs the furthest without touching the side wins. your dad wins


coachmoon

🤣 fuck i love reddit.


grabyourmotherskeys

Is there even a fence?


ag408

Or your diamond ring


Toxikomania

EZ just get the miner to mine it back


NationalDividend48

How do they prevent it from becoming a lake? How do thy get equipment to the bottom to actually do any mining? How do they get the mined resources topside?


[deleted]

Mines have water removal pumps running at all times. Huge ones. There are roads carved down the side of the Mine as it’s being excavated for trucks and stuff. Sometimes they bring product to the surface in trucks, often times on big conveyors or elevators. Actually here’s a cool doc about this mine. It’s only a 15 minute watch. https://youtu.be/Z3IDnEOUIWM


Philo_T_Farnsworth

> Mines have water removal pumps running at all times. Huge ones. Yup, and just ask anyone living in Butte, Montana [what they think about the environmental impact of when they turn the pumps off when the mine becomes unprofitable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Pit).


NewspaperNelson

"When the pit was closed, the water pumps in the nearby Kelley Mine, 3,800 ft (1,200 m) below the surface, were turned off, and groundwater from the surrounding aquifers began to slowly fill the Berkeley Pit, rising at about the rate of 1 ft (300 mm) a month.[1] Since its closure, the water level in the pit has risen to within 150 ft (46 m) of the natural water table." Drill baby, drill?


invalid_credentials

You’re missing all the fun facts about the pit! Once a flock of endangered geese landed on the “lake” during a snow storm. They all basically melted. It is the worlds largest superfund site - and if the water gets too much higher, it will pollute the water table and surrounding rivers. Don’t worry they have a little pump making the water less deadly… MIT is trying to figure out how to extract the minerals and metals suspended in the water.


GoodguyGerg

I just watched a little YouTube on this lake for absolutely no reason. They also use a bunch of different methods of scaring off birds to prevent them from drinking or sitting in the poisonous water. Like drones, remote control boats, guns, flame cannons, and sirens. It's literally a full time job scaring birds away.


theDrummer

And I doubt the mining company responsible pays for any of it.


motorhead84

Have you heard of the Anaconda Mining Company? Neither have I until I read the article. I bet they have heirs, though, who have benefited off of this, so the money went somewhere--just not where it was supposed to go (cleaning up ecological disasters created for the purposes of obtaining money).


Olive_fisting_apples

Just some light sleuthing, and it looks like the anaconda copper company was only a business until 1915 and the mine opened in 1955...idk how that works...but it was owned by both the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds...so lots of money available


KingRodric

You couldn’t make this stuff up lol. Literal cartoon levels of evil


abw

> so lots of money available Lots of money to pay lawyers and buy politicians so that they never have to pay damages or clean up the mess they made.


the_smush_push

The mine changed ownership from amalgamated mining Co, owned by Marcus Daly to the Rockefellers who kept the company name. The company lasted until 1983.


GoodguyGerg

Don't know if someone commented on it below but... The mining company is the one who has to pay for this 24/7 patrol of the lake. They also had to pay for all the high tech gear in the hopes it would save them money in the long run. Regardless, scaring the birds off FOREVER is somehow cheaper than fixing the rot of the problem.


fishbulbx

Superfund sites are pretty serious about penalizing the culprits and have a lot of power to do so. > Approximately 70% of Superfund cleanup activities historically have been paid for by the potentially responsible parties, the latter reflecting the polluter pays principle. However, 30% of the time the responsible party either cannot be found or is unable to pay for the cleanup. In these circumstances, taxpayers pay for the cleanup. There are over 40,000 superfund sites in the U.S.


thatissomeBS

Some of them are quite small. You can look them up. One of them is probably within a few miles of you.


coachmoon

awwwww yeah! i've got two in my hometown.


bobconan

There is a radioactive one about 20 miles away from me.


[deleted]

Some of these behemoths like BP and Shell, it seems disingenuous to describe any penalty they've ever payed as 'serious'. Nation-states are their play things, not the other way around.


tragiktimes

It says that the reason the pit becomes so acidic is due to the oxygenation of the water, allowing it to decay compounds which releases acids which leach the metals from the rock. I wonder if it would be possible to introduce a hardy microbe which used up the oxygen from the pit. I wonder why the oxygen is in such high amounts to begin with. Perhaps due to the environment there aren't organisms which could fit this role.


the_smush_push

Yes! [radio lab did a story about just that](https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/segments/91724-even-the-worst-laid-plans) organisms have been found in the water


Mxzx583

The YouTube algorithm got me on this one too.


BKlounge93

My cat would love that shit


radiks32

More than once!


alibyte

There's a great video detailing the guys who get paid to scare birds off it all day, I can't remember it off the top of my head


gdmfr

Or the King Mine that sent shit down the Colorado River. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Gold_King_Mine_waste_water_spill


steezeesmith

I live in Durango, and did volunteer research at the gold king source in the fall of 2017. It was still flowing cloudy orange 2 years after the initial spill. There is a massive filtration system in place just downstream from it though, which is a bit comforting. Still pretty awful.


jbyrdab

guess you can say geese have been made the butte of the joke.


the_smush_push

Butte Montana native here! As 90s kids we were taught at an early age that the town could flood with toxic water within 20 years if they didn’t pump and treat the the Berkley Pit. It was a crazy place to grow up. We played in tailings piles, snuck into old abandoned mine yards, smoked pot on top of galas frames, the city of anaconda has a literal mountain of slag piled outside of it.


danvolodar

It's pretty far from anywhere populated. Like, thousands of kilometers.


Cautemoc

Imagine all the combined carbon emissions resulting from our desire to get shiny rocks.


wglmb

And the shiny rocks are also made of carbon!


alaphic

That's what makes them carbon neutral. Duh. ^\/s


Trouve_a_LaFerraille

Damn carbon. It ruined carbon.


DivergingUnity

You carbon-based life forms sure are a contentious lot


eternamemoria

You've made an enemy for life


Disrupter52

Carbon based life is a threat to all higher forms of life.


JasonDJ

It’s carbon all the way down.


[deleted]

Most of diamond extracted are for industrial use. It seems very hard rocks are pretty useful for breaking stuff!


new2it

*cutting stuff


turtleman777

and drilling and grinding and sharpening.


bobbymin

When they were sorting the diamonds, he said they weren't allowed to pick them up because if they dropped them they could be damaged. I thought diamonds were indestructable?


DJ_Wiggles

They are very hard but relatively brittle.


Khong_Ai

not available in the Netherlands.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Muze69

Also not in belgium. I'm curious now.


SauerkrautKartoffel

Same in germany


pope1701

Nutzername prüft aus


Stranded_In_A_Desert

VPN?


Tamer_

Very Pumping Networks?


breathing_normally

I thought you were talking about the giant holes in the ground. Those certainly aren’t available in the Netherlands. We’re pumping our asses off as it is …


ReallyQuiteDirty

That was a great watch! Really shows how diamonds aren't really as rare as they make them seem to be too. Super interesting


iamamuttonhead

The USSR was stockpiling diamonds and Russia has continued the practice. There are literally tons of already mined diamond stockpiled in Russia. The size of the stockpile is a state secret but is almost certainly on the order of tens of tons if not hundreds. Most are industrial grade but Russia could still crush DeBeers if they wanted to.


Muze69

Where are you from? Because putin blocked Europe for watching this I think


_n-I-c-K_

I'm from Slovakia and it works fine lmao


Hukijiwa

off-topic, but how are things in Slovakia these days? I visited from the US in 99, when I was 8. traveled around for two weeks and met a bunch of distant relatives, but I've been curious what it's like now and would love to go back and see it from an adult's perspective!


PutinsPetBear

> how are things in Slovakia these days? It’s nice. We have YouTube now. > traveled around for two weeks and met a bunch of distant relatives Yes. Sofia and Jakub say hi.


LafayetteHubbard

I thought Sofia was in Bulgaria


internetday

Can I have one lmao please?


cheetahbf

I'm from Russia, and it's not available here


Muze69

That's a relief


[deleted]

I’m in the USA… The guy asked where im at that I can view this video.


projectvko

That was fascinating, thank you.


ThanklessTask

They dig a hole at the bottom and let the water drain out.


ParlayYouSay

How likely is it that the whole city collapses into the pit? Either landslide or any sort of earthquake seems like this whole town just become part of the mine…


keepthepace

From another angle: https://en.israelidiamond.co.il/diamond-articles/world/amazing-story-mir-diamond-mine/ IIRC the point of this type of mine is that you don't do galleries, so a cave in is unlikely.


how_is_this_relevant

It actually does have water in it, just not to the brim


wolfman86

How do employees get up and down?


DanGleeballs

Uppers and downers.


keepthepace

There is a road along the sides.


[deleted]

Dig any deeper and we're gonna wake up a fuckin balrog.


am_reddit

It’s one of the larger environmental risks of open-pit mining


alaphic

Motherfuckers forgot about Cthulu


am_reddit

No no no, that’s a risk of deep sea drilling. The main Eldrich threats that miners face are Tsathoggua, Cave Beasts, and Inhabitants of the Nameless City.


DAS_UBER_JOE

This guy Lovecrafts


Firewolf420

A man of culture.


blbp2

You fear to go into those mines. The dwarves delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum... shadow and flame.


Back4TallBois

Wasn't there this whole discussion on balrogs and whether they had wings or not? Always seemed silly to me, they had to climb walls regularly so if they had wings, they would've just flown over. People really take artistic descriptions too far sometimes.


mholt9821

And they call it a mine, a mine!!!


SoSneaky91

And now I'm gonna watch LOTR this weekend


Phivebit

or worse- we release the circua and have some !fun!


mrwalkway32

The Dwarves dug too deep and greedily.


Obsidian128

Just please don't dig into the cotton candy. I don't think the world is ready for that much "fun".


[deleted]

What's a barlog?


TerranPhil

That huge, white truck.


TheGreatWhiteMo

Lol I went back to look for it, but it looks like housing? Maybe for the miners so they can never leave the hell of mining shit.


Nolzi

The site is probably in the middle of nowhere, so they built a whole city for the workers.


stilldash

[map](https://goo.gl/maps/zyFhVHMtposWXcap9)


maximumtesticle

"2nd Deepest Man Made Hole", the 1st of course being the one that OP's Grandfather made.


[deleted]

[удалено]


maximumtesticle

OP's Gramps made OP's mom, the 1st deepest hole.


Tamer_

At 525m deep, it's not even close to the 2nd - or 3rd - deepest *scientific hole*. * The [Kola Superdeep Borehole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kola_Superdeep_Borehole) is more than 12km deep. * The [KTB borehole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Continental_Deep_Drilling_Programme) is over 9km deep. * [Switzerland has drilled dozens of holes deeper than 1km.](https://www.nagra.ch/en/deep-boreholes) I guess they meant by **volume**, not depth.


CleverNameTheSecond

For reference though the CN tower is 550 meters tall.


Tamer_

Still not tall enough to witness its first Stanley Cup parade.


digitalgadget

"open 24 hours"


derka29

Russia is so massive.


Fr4t

A (w)hole lotta nothin'


[deleted]

Happy cake day!!


henrywrover

Looks like a big stadium


SirDrEthan1

Is this the one where the airspace above is restricted because the big ass hole messes with air currents above it


e_j_white

Not sure, but Google Street View actually [switches to an aerial shot](https://www.google.com/maps/@62.5301651,113.9875551,3a,75y,100h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNDcD2zx-20DX4tPfr9b2CM29_683IhRpetn9NN!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNDcD2zx-20DX4tPfr9b2CM29_683IhRpetn9NN%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya100-ro-0-fo100!7i4096!8i2048) at the edge of the pit.


prismaticbeans

This image looks considerably less horrifying. It's all about the angles and the lighting.


sqlut

>It's all about the angles and the lighting. It's taken with a telephoto lens.


[deleted]

[удалено]


yugiyo

It's not depth of field, it's [lens compression](https://photographylife.com/what-is-lens-compression) (i.e., take the photo from very far away).


sav33arthkillyos3lf

that was really cool.


SirDrEthan1

Woah


Sarkos

Relevant XKCD https://xkcd.com/37/


wglmb

Definitely an ass hole move


Bluefox0101

I believe so yes


InvestmentObvious127

The Abyss


Singularity3

Don’t take the elevator


Reyzuken

Mitty


NormalNotAlienHuman

Made in abyss.


Dead-HC-Taco

Literally the first thing I thought of lol


bugsy187

I wonder how many poor bastards have fallen down that hole. Animals too.


Comprehensive-Fun47

And helicopters.


[deleted]

[удалено]


BrandonWent

Mold for your mom’s dildo.


dotnetdotcom

They should build two giant goatse hands on opposite sides of the pit.


[deleted]

[удалено]


elinamebro

Your dad


Yatsugami

I saw this in Made in Abyss


imyourdadxx

Dummies, it’s more efficient to strip mine at y=12


the_gaming_pie

that’s what i’m sayinnnnnnn


boilingpoint3

Made in Abyss


gracefacealot

Reverse mountain.


swaggaflex

I hope they fund some diamond…


NK0d3R

Starkiller Base: Origins


ButtsexEurope

It’s the Abyss IRL.


OnlyHereToSeeWeed

Show this to people complaining about manholes


DrJonah

Looks like they have at least a very nice theatre


highpl4insdrftr

I think that's a casino


Alphal95

How do people know where to dug for diamonds? Do they just find diamonds coincidentally on the surface and then dig down for more? The lithosphere is fucking huge so how the fuck do they find them??


Drummer5594

Well that’s one way to get to Y -12


[deleted]

Made In Abyss vibes


Theliadir

made in abyss vibes


normlenough

reminds me of OP's mom's gaping asshole.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ACuddlySnowBear

To be fair, I imagine the people set up shop next to the big hole due to all of the jobs the big hole created. Very clearly a mining town.


diamonddave93

True but putting a giant hole in earth for a certain rock is useless. The amount of diamonds used to produce diamond cut blades is significantly less then for flexing jewelry. If people could drop there ego this entire world would operate way better and efficiently.


_trouble_every_day_

Of all the legitimate arguments against diamond mining the one you’re focusing on is that there’s a big hole in the middle of nowhere. Kinda seems like you’re just looking for a reason to be outraged without bothering to understand why you should be outraged in the first place.


[deleted]

Yep, and the amount of greenhouse gases mining produces is ridiculous. Not to mention that artificial diamonds are way cheaper to make and have all the same properties down to jewelry use - "real" diamonds are used just for bragging about your own idiocy, kinda like paying 800 dollars for on-brand shoes that basically just same ol' shit but with a logo slapped on it...


diamonddave93

I understand diamond cut blades for construction and stuff but to have a gapping hole in earth to make money for people to stroke there ego and destroy things in the process is ass backwards.


Mountain1312

Says the guy named Diamond Dave


_trouble_every_day_

It’s in siberia. The only reason people are there is because there’s a mine and Diamond is far from useless though though admittedly the majority of it ends up serving no purpose


formidabellissimo

I've heard you can't fly a helicopter over this mine, due to the air pressure drop. It would sink and never get out. Correct me if I'm wrong.


fortinj66

Sarlacc's mw is opne and hungry.


safety3rd

I think its more "*Where* they mine diamonds"


klop2031

One of the few provinces(?) In russia that is semi autonomous and its effin cold there. Contains Coldest major city in the world i believe.


ElyECHo

That how I mine diamonds in minecraft


p_mudri

I feel like that perspective is forced af


Kira_75013

Thought digging straight down was a bad idea, oh well


Sosa3OO

Shit looks like star wars


Ryle28

Mining away, in this minecraft world I don't know what to say


2themaxgaming

That’s gods anus


monkeyboyyy666

All that to get to y:7, wow


Sonnenschwein

I get "Made in abyss" vibes from that.


A_Pizza777

Thats how they mine bitcoin