(IDEX Online) - Alrosa is merging the management teams for its remote Mirny mine with that of its Nyurba mining and processing division.Both teams are already based at Mirny (pictured), in the subarctic Russian republic of Sakha. The joint operation will improve efficiency, says the state-owned Russian miner, but will "free up part of the management staff". Mirny yields some of the world's highest diamond grades, and produced 2.2 million carats in 2019.Nyurba was established in 2000 to develop the deposits of the Nakyn ore field in the Nyurba ulus of the Yakutia - Nyurbinsky and Botuobinsky kimberlite pipes.Igor Sobolev, Alrosa's COO said the move had been considered many times before, but the Covid pandemic had been the catalyst."Given the remoteness of the Mirny District and the resulting lack of qualified personnel, most of the freed-up employees will be engaged in Alrosa's large-scale project on digital transformation in production and improvement of the management system," he said.The restructuring will take effect this August. It affects only management and administration jobs, and no core production personnel will be impacted.