RUSSIAN DIAMONDS Grib mineArchangel had spent millions of dollars exploring the pipe, apparently discovered in 1993 by Vladimir Grib, a fellow described by some of his peers as "a good geologist and a great drinker." Depending on one's perspective, Mr. Grib was either a dullard or a wizard at promotion, given that his paperwork left enough grey areas that the oligarchs who moved in were able to blast apart Archangel's claim to have earned title to Grib -- which they did once the Grib project was sufficiently advanced to cut Archangel out of the loop.