The Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev met with with the Director General of Norilsk, Nickel, Vladimir Potanin, to talk about the company's plan to increase geological exploration in the Arctic region, reports Arctic-info. The nickel ore mining company will become a key figure in the development of the Arctic branch (Taimyr), which has a world class resource base: by 2018, it is planned to increase the extraction of ore to 18.5-19 million tonnes from the current approximately 16.5 million tonnes. The new mines of Taimyr have planned investments of $700 million.