The history of Alrosa dates back to 1954, when the first primary deposit of diamonds in the Soviet Union, the kimberlite pipe Zarnitsa, was found.

To manage the facility's construction and subsequent operations, the Yakutalmaz group of companies was established with headquarters in Mirny.

In those years its main open-pit mines, processing plants and related energy generating facilities were put into operation.

[8] Through 1980, the rapid development of primary deposits continued in Aykhal township on the basis of the Jubilee pipe and in Udachny town.

Because the Soviet Union was very heavily indebted in the late 1980s,[9][10][a] Viktor Vladimirivich Gerashchenko and six others travelled among Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and others from September 1990 until the afternoon of 17 January 1991 to obtain very large loans from Persian Gulf states to prevent the collapse of the Soviet banking system.

This serves the goals of both upholding the Russian Navy and providing Yakutian youths a military alternative to crime, drugs and alcoholism.

[15] In August 2009, during the recent financial crisis, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the Russian government, via Gokhran, would buy $1 billion in uncut diamonds from Alrosa.

The Russian government and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) sold a combined 14% stake (in equal shares), while Alrosa offered about 2% in treasury stock.

These initiatives are partially implemented through nonprofit organization "Target Fund for Future Generations of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)", in which the company has invested over 4.5 bln rubles for the whole period of cooperation since 2011.

[25] That year, ALROSA was ranked among the top three in the environmental responsibility rating of the Russian mining and smelting companies.

[26] In June 2017, Memorandum of Cooperation between PJSC ALROSA and Gem & Jewelry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) was signed in the scope of India-Russia Summit with the participation of the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

[33] In 2022, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, several countries moved to implement economic sanctions against several Russian-based companies, individuals and financial institutions.

[36] On January 3, 2024, the European Union imposed sanctions on Alrosa, and its CEO, Pavel Marinychev, as part of its "unwavering commitment" to Ukraine in the conflict against Russia.

[41] On the territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Alrosa has four mining and processing divisions - Mirny, Aykhal, Udachny, Nyurba.

The division develops the Udachnaya and Zarnitsa kimberlite pipes, Dellyuvialnaya and Ruchey Piropovy placer deposits.

Diamond output at the Udachny Mining and Processing Division (MPD) in 2016 amounted to 3.8 million carats.

[23] Diamond output at the Nyurba Mining and Processing Division (MPD) in 2017 totaled 7.7 million carats.

It holds the mining licenses for the Nyurbinskoye and Botuobinskoye primary deposits, and same-name placers closely associated with pipes.

ALROSA owns 97,48% of interest in PJSC ALROSA-Nyurba which operates in the Nyurba District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

[23] On 21 September 2017, TASS news agency reported Alrosa's most expensive gem to date, a 28.65 carat pink diamond.

The gem is reported to be of jewelry quality, measuring 22.47 x 15.69 x 10.9 millimetres, with a saturated pink tone and practically no defects, according to Alrosa.

[50] The pink diamond was mined by subsidiary Almazy Anabara, which operates the Severalmaz kimberlite pipes and placer deposits near riverways in the northwest part of Yakutia.

[54][55] ALROSA actively supports Russian government bodies in their efforts to achieve the goals and implement the requirements of the Kimberley Process by various means, including taking a strong and principled position to not supply rough diamonds to legal entities and individual business people if they:[56] Document trail showed that Alrosa's Luxembourg-registered subsidiary Alrosa Finance was partially owned by Shapburg Limited and Quenon Investments Limited.