A working meeting of the head of the regional council, Vasyl Dmytruk, with the leadership of the Rivne Geological Exploration Expedition was held at the regional council, the regional council's press service reported. During the conversation, ways of further development of the mineral and raw material base of Volyn region were discussed, since search work to identify deposits of copper, amber, and diamonds continues in the region. As was noted during the meeting, exploration at the Postupel section of the Ratne phosphorite deposit has been completed. The estimated reserves of phosphorites at the mentioned deposit can serve as a reliable raw material base for creating a powerful mining and processing-enrichment complex of enterprises in Ratne district. It was noted that financial investments are needed to develop the deposit, and finding them should be pursued in a focused manner. As reported by the adviser to the head of the regional council on ecology and natural resources, Veniamin Tuz, it is still too early to speak about the reserves of the phosphorite deposit discovered in Ratne district, since official approval of the results of the Rivne Geological Exploration Expedition's activities at the state level is needed. At the same time, Veniamin Tuz noted that for several years the explored copper deposit in Ratne district has been at the tender stage. Its projected reserves amount to 2 million tonnes of pure copper. As reported by Veniamin Tuz, there have already been proposals for the development of the copper deposit, but the regional authorities wish to attract an investor who would ensure the development of the deposit with the latest technologies. The meeting participants also emphasized the need to continue work on monitoring the quantitative and qualitative composition of groundwater, and observation of the source of groundwater contamination in the area of the military airfield in Lutsk.