This is another picture that requires a moment to look at in order to appreciate the scale. Look at the monumental size of this hole. Around its edges are regular-sized buildings and roads. A hole has been drilled into the Earth which goes 525 meters deep and has a diameter of 1,200 meters. It's a vast wound which can never heal.
This is the Mir Mine, a diamond mine in Russia which was once the largest in the world. Mining operations commenced at the site during the 1960s, and at its peak, it produced in excess of 2000 kilograms of diamonds each year. We've exhausted the mine, with production dwindling and the yield falling as long as 400 kilograms, but we keep on digging and mining. The mine was recommissioned as recently as 2009 and is expected to remain open for at least another forty years beyond now, by which time the miners will surely be left with scraps.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.