Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has called for expanding geological prospecting and exploration operations to locate and study new mineral deposits and for introducing new technologies more actively.

“Our country ranks among the global leaders in terms of mineral deposits and their extraction. It is necessary to create favorable conditions for ensuring a sufficient increment in the mineral raw material base, so that this increment would always exceed production volumes. For this purpose, it is necessary to expand geological prospecting operations to locate and study new mineral deposits,” he said at a government meeting.

Mishustin went on to say that Russia should focus on the continental shelf of the Arctic Ocean’s seas, little-studied areas of the Arctic zone, Eastern Siberia and the Far East.

“We have to introduce new technologies more actively. First of all, it is necessary to digitalize millions of files containing accumulated geological data and all government services in this field. Consequently, it will become possible to more effectively monitor the rational and frugal management of mineral resources and their protection, to develop mineral deposits more effectively and profitably and to ensure stricter compliance with environmental standards,” he said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that transparent and understandable rules in the area of managing mineral resources are an essential precondition for attracting new investment.