In man’s search for mineral wealth, many enormous holes have been dug. In addition, nature occasionally produces some astounding holes. This list is a pick of the ten most spectacular natural or manmade holes in the face of the earth. Many thanks to rushfan for sending in the images for this list. Click the images for a larger view.
Chuquicamata is an open pit copper mine in Chile. It is the mine with the largest total production of copper in the world – though it is not the largest copper mine. The mine is over 850 meters deep.
The Udachnaya Pipe is a diamond mine in Russia. The owners of the mine plan to cease its operations in 2010 – in favor of underground mining. The mine was discovered in 1955 and is over 600 meters deep.
In 2007, a 300 foot deep sinkhole swallowed a dozen homes in Guatemala – killing 2 and causing thousands to be evacuated. The sinkhole was caused by rains and an underground sewage flow.
The Diavik Mine is a mine in the Northwest territories of Canada. The mine (opened in 2003) produces 8 million carats or about 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) of diamonds every year.
The Mirny Diamond Mine is 525m deep and has a diameter of 1200m. It was the first, and one of the largest, diamond Pipes in the USSR. It is now abandoned. While it was still operational, it would take two hours for trucks to drive from the top to the bottom of the mine.
The Great Blue Hole is an underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize. The hole is 1,000 feet across and 400 feet deep. It was formed as a limestone cave during the last iceage.
The Bingham Canyon Mine is a copper mine in the Oquirrh mountains, Utah. The mine is 0.75 mile (1.2 km) deep, 2.5 miles (4 km) wide. It is the world’s largest manmade excavation.
The Monticello Dam is a dam in Napa County, California, United States most noted for its large circular spillway with a rate of 48,400 cubic feet per second.
The Kimberley Diamond Mine (also known as the Big Hole) holds the (disputed) title of being the largest hand-dug hole in the world. From 1866 to 1914 50,000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2,722 kg of diamonds. Attempts are being made to have it registered as a world heritage site.
In 1971, geologists discovered a massive underground deposit of natural gas on this site. Whilst excavating the hole to tap the gas, the drilling rig collapsed leaving a massive hole. To prevent poisonous gasses from escaping, the hole was allowed to burn. It continues to burn to this day and has done so without ceasing. You can see a video clip of it burning here.
WHOO HOOO!!! FIRST FIRST
I’d like to thank the academy, my mother and Jesus for giving me this opportunity. Jamie for providing the forum for lists….
>cue music
oooh second..i would like to thank myself for being bored and surfing this site just in time to make this incredibly creative comment.
fascinating list! cool pics!
xdarkhor***** is under investigation for performance enhancers.
Also…great list.
Yay me 2nd! Really amazing list, Jamie! Really amazing for a non-geeky dude!
I love the sound that #1 makes. Cool list.
oh, not me! I’m 4th!
i would love to be able to see any of these in real life. the name of the list is pretty funny though….i could think of a few people who would fit under that name.
i want to jump into the dam…that looks neat
>i want to jump into the dam…that looks neat
LOL. Yeah, it does look pretty neat. Would be a hell of a landing though, with the simultaneous sensations of broken bones and your lungs filling with water. Other than that, it would be pretty fun……………….NOT!!
What about the Super Pit??
Check it out in Kalgoorlie West Australia
www1.superpit.com.au
When I viewed this page only one comment was posted…
Kimberley (Diamond Mine) has some bush near the hole.
Anyone who giggles is a perv and will be tazed.
The Great Blue Hole in Belize REALLY needs to be used as a James Bond villain’s super secret lair:P
Cool list! emmstein@10:
beff, I think some of the biggest ones yet are in senate.
That is pretty amazing. But it’s also a bit sad because it’s a reminder of how much we like to destroy the earth.
A great list, I love to see the gas pit in Turkmenistan, Yagsheemesh!
Interesting, but this list/series of pix has been floating around the internet for a couple of years now. Surprised someone hasn’t spotted this before me. Oh well, keep on keeping on.
Great Monday list! The pics are amazing.
haven’t we already had a list like this?
I liked this list and the photos were awesome!!
no Paris Hilton?
It’s hard to be sure, but very few of these seem to have fences around them!
Holy list of holes, Batman!
Wicked!
#1 reminds me of the movie Silent Hill.
What about the Barringer crater?
or does that not count…
Great and beautiful list btw =]
Me and some mates dug a big hole once. Why does one always come across shoes and boots and cuplery?
What gets bigger the more you take out of it?
#3 looks like what happens when you divide by zero.
what about that cave in Mexico that people base jump from?
Great List! =)
There are so many holes in this list that it’s not even funny. Number 3 reminds me of Journey to the Center of the Earth. Speaking of which why didn’t that hole make the list?
Seriously, this is really an interesting and original list.
9. Denzell: Doesn’t matter anyway- it’s against site rules and your post(s) will probably be deleted. So will there’s.
Great list! I was worried for a sec because I’ve seen lists like this online before, but I believe this is an original list. Like the pictures, although there are others of the Great Blue Hole that show how udderly random it is.
wow!
really amazing. Most of them even incredible (7,5,2 and 1 seems science fiction).
Maybe you missed Kola Superdeep Borehole. A little more of information could be great, but wiki is there to heal up that.
great list
JB
Mel’s hole maybe?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel%27s_Hole
http://turbo.peteronline.net/melshole/
Good list nice images, but Im sure I wrote a wee line or two about the Kimberly Hole a few months back, when you had a similar list going.
fromthefuture: Yep, it is called “Sótano de las golondrinas” and its one of the deepest natural natural abyss on earth. Look at it, i found a video in english: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2bqxZs0iCc.
I think that you missed a lot of good stuff in this list. One is that one that i already mentioned, other one is the “Sotano del barro” also in mexico (another of the deepest caves in the world) , The Barringer Crater (who doesnt love craters??) , The money pit at oak island (last buried treasure) , the Kola Superdeep Borehole (deepest man-made hole), the Challenger abyss (in the pacific ocean), Qattara depression (largest natural sinkhole on earth), Sarisarinama Holes in Venezuela.
Man you really needed to do a bit more of investigation, this list needed a little bit more of info and photos, easily reaching 15 items or more, instead of ten. Its just a regular list right now…
That burning hole is wicked
Those are some sweet pictures. Nice creative list.
Instead of so many mines I would have included at least one of these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenote
Some of them are amazing specially the Sacred Cenote.
no joke.. I was seriously expecting goatse to be no1… yehh the internet has ruined me
The reason for excluding the Kola superdeep borehole was that the borehole is not an amazing hole to look at from above ground. I should have been clearer in the intro
A dozen homes in a sinkhole (#8) that small…ouchie! #5 reminds me of an eyeball. Perdy!
Hmmm… I can’t believe you did not add the Berkley Pit to the list! The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana (USA). The pit is approximately 1.5 miles wide and over 1/3 mile deep. Due in part to toxic/contaminated water currently filling 900+ feet of the pit, the Berkley Pit has become one of the United States’ largest ‘superfund’ clean-up sites ever.
what about craters from meteor strikes?
Meteor Crater in Arizona
Yucatan crater in Mexico
and there’s another one in Canada.
all natural and large enough to make the list (though not very spectacular)
here is wiki’s list of impact craters on Earth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_craters_on_Earth
copperdragon:
Good suggestion, I thought of those myself… though in fact, when you think about it, they ARE pretty spectacular. And there are many more than four… the globe is in fact covered with them, though most, like Chixulub, are now indistinguishable, due to erosion and continental drift.
that is one of the best lists i this site, i would rate this site at least 9 out of 10. it is verry interest ing to be hionest.
Another rushfan goodie!
And yes, of course there are a lot of holes that didn’t make the list, but c’mon guys, “So many holes, so few spaces!”.
There are more underground fires, too, that just keep on burning year after year, but the Darvaza Gas Crater is truly spectacular because you can see it.
Anyway rushie, great job.
Can’t wait to see what ya got next!
And there was me thinking that I lived in the biggest hole in the world:).
1. xdarkhor*****
Heh heh that was the best comment I have seen at no.1
Diavik Mine – Totally amazing but I would be worried working there!
Great Blue Hole – There are aliens down there!!
Monticello Dam – That’s just plain scary. I wonder if any of the maintenance works have gone missing.
Darvaza Gas Crater – Sponsored by BIC lighters – France!
what?! no paris hilton?! this list is incomplete!
you can’t help but wonder how often people fall into these.
50. billyrules! Maybe it’s just me, but I think you’d see them before you had a chance to fall in.
It was way back in the year of 1987 when “The Cosby-Jello Hole Bill” ALMOST got passed and made into LAW. Citizen Bill Cosby stood before Congress in the winter of that year and gave a most electrifying speech that nearly warmed the entire room to its core, but The House was naturally divided. One side wanted flavors that represented the states in some way and another side wanted to charge by the spoonful…but Citizen Cosby stood his ground. The Holes would be filled with Jello FOR THE CHILDREN and BY THE CHILDREN and the consumer would pay an “all you can eat” fee.
The flavor would be a NEW ONE that was then being developed by the Jello Corporation speciffically for the future possibility of “The Cosby-Jello Hole Law”. Transluscent to the eye and with the taste of emptyness. Various “launchers” would be constructed around the holes, giving “thrill riders” a view of the wide blue yonder….for a moment any how–before plumeting into The Vast Jello Bellow. Special “Black Hole” nylon jumpsuits would be provided for return ethusiasts who dared the higher free falls from the “Outer to Inner Experience” (a joint operation with Virgin Space Corp).
Believe it or not. The President of the United States, being a Jello and big hole lover, came close to giving his “official smooch” of approval.
But long story short:
Kids today dont know what to do with all their energy and the Bill did not become Law.
and Bill went back to his Jello comercials on TV, but something had changed in him
The Wikipedia Infomation on “The Cosby-Jello Hole Bill” has unfortunately been removed.
By Citizen Cosby’s Request (some say out of shame, others say out of continual grief)
there is only ONE rational explanation for number 1 on this list. satan was bored and decided to light his fart on fire.
Awesom list! After I saw number one’s photo and description, I’m beginning to wonder what’ll happen if someone fell into that hole….
For some reason #3 freaked me out. I can’t look at the picture without shuddering.
Well if natural holes are being included what about the Grand Canyon?
If the planned expansion of BHP’s Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia goes ahead it should easily make this list. Here are some figures:
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page55?oid=20262&sn=Detail
As an engineer, the scale of what they’re planning is just mind boggling. As a South Australian resident though, I’m not convinced this state has the resources to get it off the ground. Time will tell I guess
imho holes ruin the view. incredible list though.
it’s my first time to comment. been lurking here a while though.
^ too many “though” in my previous post. heehee
it’s amazing about the 2 hour drive from the top of the hole to the bottom.
My dad worked for the Diavik diamond mine!! he operated a jumbo in the underground.