Russian uncut diamond mining giant Alrosa and metals holding Norilsk Nickel have asked the natural resources minister to simplify the procedures needed to expand licensed fields.
The licenses for the older deposits of the companies were given in the Soviet times or the early 1990s, when the depth and the area of drilling were severely restricted, which now makes it difficult to register newly found resources.
As the reserves of the companies on the deposits launched earlier are decreasing, Norilsk Nickel plans to spend 1.1 billion rubles and Alrosa 4.8 billion rubles on geological exploration in 2016. (Prime/Ukrainian metal)