Kola superdeep borehole, pride of Russian geology, will be closed down. Engineers already started dismantling unique equipment.
      
      Kola superdeep borehole was the result of a scientific drilling project of the former USSR. The project attempted to drill as deep as possible into the Earth's crust. Drilling began on May 24, 1970 on the Kola Peninsula, using an "Uralmash-4E" and later an "Uralmash-15000" drilling rig. A number of boreholes were drilled by branching from a central hole. The deepest, SG-3, was completed in 1989, creating a hole 12,261 metres deep, which is still the deepest hole ever drilled.
      
      Project organizers, however, were not oriented only on scientific results – they expected to find new deposits of copper and nickel ores and they did.
      
      Source: ITAR-TASS

Roderick Liechty :
Thank you for the information about the Kola superdeep borehole. I have a question about the huge excavation photograph in relation to where the tower drilling structure is located? And what is the history of the site of excavation? Is it a mining operation? I read that the basic project was over in 2006.. May it be a location for disposal of dangerous materials? I am just a retired high school teacher. Thank you again

Added: 06 October 2009 08:02