Sally at the Shillong Shopping Carnival. A Telegraph picture

Shillong, Sept. 12: A Sri Lankan mining expert has offered to give tips to the people of Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills districts on extracting coal and other minerals in Meghalaya.

The chairman of Sally Gems, Colombo, a firm of gem exporters, M. Nistar M. Sally, said his firm could help Meghalaya inculcate scientific methods of mining, whether it involves coal or other minerals.

Sally is part of a delegation from Sri Lankan, the partner country in the Shillong Shopping Carnival. He has put up a stall along with his son at the carnival at Laitumkhrah.

Sally Gems has a number of mining plants in Sri Lanka, mainly in the Ratnapura district.

The mines in the district are famous for a high quality of gems.

“We are conducting scientific mining of gems and if needed, tips on different aspects of scientific mining can be given to Meghalaya and the rest of the Northeast,” Sally said.

On militancy in Sri Lanka, Sally said the mining industry in his country was not under threat from insurgents.

Sally, who is aware of the unrest and militancy in the Northeast, suggested the need to generate employment opportunities to contain problems related to militancy.

The gems and stones on display at the fair include rubies, sapphire, alexandrite, tourmalines, aquamarines, zodiac gems, topaz, moonstones and amethyst.

The prices of these gems range from Rs 500 to Rs 6,000.

According to Sally, his stall has attracted women in large numbers. They are checking out the variety of gems from Sri Lanka, which have adorned the crowns and thrones of royalty around the world.

Sally added that the island nation is blessed with many rare and valuable stones and among the gems, the blue sapphire is known as the king of Sri Lankan gems.

This is for the first time that Sri Lanka is participating in a fair in Meghalaya.

The carnival at Laitumkhrah will conclude on Monday.