An exhibit on display at the Regional Museum of Natural History in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, June 25: The authorities of the Regional Museum of Natural History near Acharya Vihar plan to open a new gallery on the mineral resources found in the state.

The gallery will have on display major minerals, photographs and miniature models of mines and mining activity in the state. An official said the gallery should be ready by the end of this year.

The new facility will be located near the gallery that displays the Baleen whale skeleton, the museum’s prized possession.

Scientist in charge of the museum G.N. Indresha told The Telegraph: “We have already contacted agencies engaged in mining activities to collect fine quality crystals of ores and minerals from different regions of the state. The state is blessed with many rare and priceless minerals and gemstones. Geological surveys are required to find the location of several minerals in the state.”

He said that last month, the discovery of a gemstone at a village in Mayurbhanj district attracted people from neighbouring Jharkhand and Bengal. A rush of people from other districts of Odisha arrived at the village to catch a glimpse of the gemstone as well.

“Many extremely backward districts in western Odisha are home to deposits of the finest precious stones,” Indresha said.

Historians have also found that the upper Mahanadi valley was also rich in diamonds and gemstones. Sambalpur is referred to as “Sambalaka” in Roman geographer Ptolemy’s book Ancient India. He wrote that Sambalpur was “the capital of a district which produces the finest diamonds in the world”.

In the past, the business of diamond and precious stones extended from the upper Mahandi valley up to Java and Sumatra (islands in modern-day Indonesia), Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Myanmar and even China through the river route. Traders used to carry the stones to the coast of Kalinga through the river Mahanadi.

During a visit to the city on June 15, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar had mentioned that Odisha was a storehouse of minerals including rare metals. “We need to know the technology or the metallurgical science to extract the rare materials,” he had said.

The museum authorities said the new gallery would include all kinds of minerals available in the state so that visiting students could get an overview of the geological wealth of the region from their visit.