The Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Scientists claims the crater contains trillions of carats of so-called "impact diamonds."

Scientists say the diamonds are twice as hard as conventional diamonds and have superior industrial qualities.

Their strength is believed to come from enormous pressure and high temperatures at the moment of impact when the meteorite left a 60-mile crater in the Earth 35-million years ago.

Soviet scientists discovered the deposit in the 1970s, but it was left unexplored as the Soviet leadership opted to produce synthetic diamonds for industrial use.

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