The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is planning to build a salt processing plant at the Kempendyai salt deposit, the republic's largest. Salt can be used in oil drilling in the Arctic, TASS reports. The project is being studied, Nikolai Alexandrov, first deputy head of the Suntarsky District, said.

"We have been producing salt since 1935. The Kempendyai deposit yields nearly 3,000 tons of salt a year, which is used in agriculture and the diamond industry. We are planning to build a small salt processing plant at a cost of 100 million rubles. This salt can be used in oil well drilling and in the food industry," Alexandrov said, adding that currently oil companies use an expensive chemical instead of salt.

"We want our salt to be used for these needs. This project has been developed jointly with the Kempendyai Salt Plant and with support from Yakutia's Investment Development Agency. We invited Alrosa to be the project investor on mutually beneficial terms. In early March, a business plan was submitted to Alrosa and we are expecting a reply," he said.

According to TASS, the Kempendyai salt deposit is near the village of Kempendyai in the Suntarsky District. The plant produces about 3,000 tons of salt a year, including 1,000 tons of table salt and 2,500 tons of industrial and fodder salt. About 60% of the industrial salt is used in the housing sector for boiler-room chemical water purification and 30% is used by drilling companies.