Russian diamond conglomerate Alrosa has proposed that small diamond fields found in Russia with reserves of less than five million carats should not be classified as deposits of federal importance, reports Interfax, citing the miner's press office.

"Currently, all diamond deposits, including small and low-margin deposits, are federal deposits. The procedure for registering these deposits takes years and does not facilitate their development," the company said, as quoted by the news source.

The proposal was announced last month in Yakutia during the eighth Northern Socio-Ecological Congress, where techniques of ecological and national policy cooperation, as well as  long-term development strategies of the Northern and Subarctic Russian regions are discussed.

As DIB previously reported, Alrosa aims to boost diamond mine output to 38 million-40 million carats per year by 2021, from 34 million carats at present. The miner plans to achieve the production growth by building deep mines at existing diamond fields in Yakutia and by the Severalmaz project in the Arkhangelsk region.