Alrosa Diamonds: Learn more about Alrosa

About us

ALROSA is the world's leading diamond mining company

Since 1957

The first discoveries of isolated rough diamonds in Russia date back to the 18th century, when in 1954 two women geologists found the first diamond field in the far northern region of Yakutia.

It was named Zarnitsa, because the diamond ore contained small red stones called ‘pyropes’, which are companions of the rough diamonds in kimberlite pipes (Zarnitsa originates from the Russian word ‘zaria’ meaning ‘dawn’).

The well-known Mir pipe was discovered a year after, and several more deposits were found later. From this, large-scale diamond mining developed in Yakutia over the next decade; whole new cities were built near the deposits. Back then the stones were intended for purposes other than jewellery making. Russia was facing active industrial development at that time, and rough diamonds were being sought and mined, primarily for industrial requirements. From that point onwards, Russian rough diamonds made their way onto world markets.

To leaders

ALROSA is today a top world diamond mining company. We mine in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and Arkhangelsk Oblast, developing 11 kimberlite pipes and 16 placer deposits. The manufacturing facilities of the company are a result of world leading scientific and technical achievements, and unique engineering skills in severe climatic conditions in the Northern part of Russia.

The company’s share makes up 27% of the world, and 95% of the Russian diamond mining industry. This means that at least every fourth stone you see in jewellery markets worldwide, comes from Russia.

Our company not only implements major investment projects aimed at the extension of its resource portfolio and the reconstruction of its industrial facilities, but also actively manages social development problems, through active participation in the social life of Yakutia.

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From 40 mln carats

ALROSA is in the business of diamond exploration, mining and trading. In 2017, ALROSA achieved its record, mining 39.6 million carats of rough diamonds. The company's facilities employ 37,000 people and each and every one of them makes their contribution to the common cause.

We sell mined rough diamonds to our long-term customers—carefully pre-selected major cutting and jewellery-making companies. We require that our customers both fulfil contracts and also meet all regulations on human rights and corporate sustainability.

Points of sale, and representative offices of ALROSA are located in the major world centres of rough diamond trading: Antwerp, Ramat Gan, Dubai, Hong Kong, New York, and Mumbai. Points of sales and representative offices of ALROSA are located in the major world centres of rough diamond trading: Antwerp, Ramat Gan, Dubai, Hong Kong, New York, and Mumbai.

38.5

MILLION
CARATS

27%

WORLD
MINING

to 125K polished
diamonds a year

ALROSA has its own diamond cutting facility. We revive centuries-old traditions of the Russian diamond cutting art, and cooperate with major jewellery makers. Our jewellers are perfectly aware of, and remember, what the Russian Cut means, long known as the highest cut quality standard worldwide. This is where the best-known collection of polished diamonds—the Dynasty—was created. The company warrants that all cut polished diamonds are manufactured from its own natural rough diamonds.

125 000

POLISHED DIAMONDS

36 000

K CARATS

From rough

ALROSA has its own state-of-the-art geological prospecting and exploration division which helps maintain and extend the resource portfolio. Field resources exceed 1.17 billion carats.

We mine rough diamonds in open pits, underground mines and placer fields. Rough diamonds are also found in the cold waters of Yakutian rivers and lakes. They are lifted from the bottom by dedicated ships. Removing stones from permafrost is a hard job, but state-of-the-art machines and know-how allow us to achieve success. We need to sort through huge amounts of ore, to find a rough diamond that will later be transformed into a piece of jewellery art. But ore mining is not the entire job; diamonds need to be removed from the ore. Special separating plants are constructed to do this job. The ore is ground and sorted in place, and also undergoes a number of procedures based on the stone’s physical properties.

To polished

A rough diamond bears little resemblance to the sparkling and shining stone you are used to seeing in stores. In order to make it so, a professional cutter is required to shape it. The ALROSA diamond cutting division includes two enterprises: in Moscow and Barnaul. Our experts examine what kind of polished diamonds can be made from a specific stone, generate 3D models, saw a rough diamond with a laser into several parts, and further cut every stone manually taking into account angles and proportions. The cutting process is a very precise art, requiring skills and experience. It takes about 10 years to transform a cutter into a full professional, and on average, our cutters have more than 25-years of experience. Only delicate precision can create the unique shine and glow you see in every stone. Large polished diamonds and fancy coloured polished diamonds are sold at auction.

Associations

The global diamond sector today faces a number of challenges related to ensuring non-conflict origin diamonds and responsible sourcing, promoting transparency, eliminating industry misperceptions, and by raising public awareness of its work. They can seriously undermine the sustainability of the industry and therefore require concerted action. Thus, ALROSA is engaged in creating and improving the efficiency of international sectoral mechanisms, designed to promote responsible business practices, develop industry self-regulation and build trust consumers through multilateral cooperation in international industry organizations.

Kimberley Process and World Diamond Council

ALROSA is actively involved in the Kimberley Process (KP), permanent intergovernmental forum aimed at preventing conflict diamonds from entering legitimate global trade in rough diamonds. The Company participates in the work of KP within the delegation of the World Diamond Council (WDC), industry’s single representative with an Observer status. ALROSA has always been represented on its board since the establishment of the organization in 2000. In 2016-2017, the Company was the WDC president.

ALROSA takes part in the KP Intersessional and Plenary meetings, day-to-day activities of its working bodies as well as peer review visits to check the members for compliance with the KP minimum requirements.
Responsible Jewellery Council

In 2016, ALROSA joined the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), international not-for-profit organization established to strengthen consumer confidence in jewellery supply chain, enhance corporate social responsibility, protect the environment and promote ethical business conduct.

In 2017, ALROSA was elected to the RJC board of directors. Following the results of an independent audit in December 2017 ALROSA was certified as compliant with the RJC Code of Practices for the period of three years.

To contribute to the objectives of the organization ALROSA participates in further development of the RJC standards, primarily from the perspective of due diligence for diamond supply chains.
Diamond Producers Association

In 2015, in alliance with the world’s other major diamond mining companies, ALROSA established the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) aiming to promote diamonds as a category in global markets in order to maintain and increase demand and ensure sustainable development of the diamond industry. Company is an active participant in a number of DPA global projects in different areas, including differentiation between natural and synthetic diamond markets, unification of diamond nomenclature and terminology, ensuring that natural and laboratory-grown stones do not get mixed in the pipeline, diamond industry advocacy, and promotion of diamonds as a category in regional markets.