{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-45-45-723","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 45, § 45-723","heading":"Definitions","body":"Whenever used or referred to in Sections 722 through 738 of this\n\ntitle, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:\n\n1. \"Overburden\" means all of the earth and other materials\n\nwhich lie above natural deposits of minerals, and also means such\n\nearth and other materials disturbed from their natural state in the\n\nprocess of surface mining;\n\n2. \"Mine\" means an underground or surface excavation and\n\ndevelopment with or without shafts, slopes, drifts or tunnels for\n\nthe extraction of minerals, with hoisting or haulage equipment and\n\nappliances for the extraction thereof, and shall embrace any and all\n\nof the land or property of the plant, and the surface and\n\nunderground, that contribute directly or indirectly to the mining\n\nproperties, concentration or handling of minerals;\n\n3. \"Mining\" means the extraction of minerals from natural\n\ndeposits by any method or process;\n\n4. \"Minerals\" means asphalt, clay, copper, granite, gravel,\n\ngypsum, lead, marble, salt, sand, shale, stone, tripoli, volcanic\n\nash and zinc, or any other substance commonly recognized as a\n\nmineral, and includes ores or rock containing any such substances,\n\nbut excludes oil, gas and any other mineral found naturally in a\n\nliquid or gaseous state;\n\n5. \"Underground mining\" means those mining operations carried\n\nout beneath the surface by means of shafts, slopes, tunnels or other\n\nopenings leading to the mineral being mined and the extraction of\n\nthe mineral through such shafts, slopes, tunnels or their openings;\n\n6. \"Surface mining\" means those mining operations carried out\n\non the surface, including strip mining, auger mining, quarrying,\n\ndredging, pumping, or the use of hydraulic methods.\n\nSurface mining shall not include excavation or removal of shale,\n\nsand, gravel, clay, rock or other materials in remote areas by an\n\nowner or holder of a possessory interest in land for the primary\n\npurpose of construction or maintenance of access roads to or on such\n\nlandowner's property. Surface mining shall not include excavations\n\nor grading conducted for forming, on-site road construction or other\n\non-site construction, or the extraction of minerals other than\n\nanthracite and bituminous coal by a landowner for noncommercial use\n\nfrom land owned or leased by the landowner; nor mining for\n\ncommercial purposes conducted under a Limited Use Permit issued by\n\nthe Department; nor the extraction of sand, gravel, rock, stone,\n\nearth or fill from borrow pits for highway construction purposes, so\n\nlong as such work is performed under a bond, contract and\n\nspecifications which substantially provide for and require\n\nreclamation of the area affected; nor to the handling, processing or\n\nstorage of slag on the premises of a manufacturer as a part of the\n\nmanufacturing process. Surface mining shall not include the surface\n\nmining of coal or the surface effects of underground coal mining;\n\n7. \"Strip mining\" means those mining operations carried out by\n\nremoving the overburden lying above natural deposits of minerals,\n\nand mining directly from such natural deposits thereby exposed, but\n\nexcludes auger mining, quarrying, dredging, pumping or the use of\n\nhydraulic methods;\n\n8. \"Reclamation\" means conditioning affected land to make it\n\nsuitable for any uses or purposes consistent with those enumerated\n\nin Section 722 of this title, and to avoid, minimize or correct\n\nadverse environmental effects of mining operations;\n\n9. \"Box cut\" means the first open cut in strip mining which\n\nresults in the placing of overburden on unmined land adjacent to the\n\ninitial pit and outside the area to be mined;\n\n10. \"Consolidated material\" means material of sufficient\n\nhardness or ability to resist weathering and to inhibit erosion or\n\nsloughing;\n\n11. \"Operator\" means any person, partnership, firm or\n\ncorporation engaged in and controlling a mining operation;\nf overburden on unmined land adjacent to the\n\ninitial pit and outside the area to be mined;\n\n10. \"Consolidated material\" means material of sufficient\n\nhardness or ability to resist weathering and to inhibit erosion or\n\nsloughing;\n\n11. \"Operator\" means any person, partnership, firm or\n\ncorporation engaged in and controlling a mining operation;\n\n12. \"Pit\" means a tract of land from which overburden or\n\nminerals have been or are being removed in the process of surface\n\nmining;\n\n13. \"Affected land\" means the area of land from which\n\noverburden shall have been removed, or upon which overburden or\n\nrefuse has been deposited, or both;\n\n14. \"Refuse\" means all waste material directly connected with\n\nthe production, cleaning or preparation of minerals which have been\n\nmined by either underground or surface mining method;\n\n15. \"Ridge\" means a lengthened elevation of overburden created\n\nin the surface mining process;\n\n16. \"Peak\" means a projecting point of overburden created in\n\nthe surface mining process;\n\n17. \"Department\" means the office of the Chief Mine Inspector,\n\nherein called the Department of Mines and Mining, or such\n\ndepartment, bureau or commission as may lawfully succeed to the\n\npowers and duties of such department;\n\n18. \"Director\" means the Chief Mine Inspector of the State of\n\nOklahoma or such officer, bureau or commission as may lawfully\n\nsucceed to the powers and duties of such Chief Mine Inspector;\n\n19. \"Borrow pit\" means the one-time or intermittent extraction\n\nof sand, gravel, rock, stone, earth or fill in its natural state,\n\nnot being mechanically altered to affect its size for government-\n\nfinanced construction purposes. Such work shall be performed under\n\na bond, contract and specifications which substantially provide for\n\nand require reclamation of the affected area; and\n\n20. “Dimension stone quarry” means a site where natural stone\n\nused as building material is excavated and the stones are selected,\n\ntrimmed, or cut to specified shapes or sizes.","path":["OK Code","Title 45"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os45.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"3e83701afd4afda7de85560c2e2daeff8123d06bc81fcc9b7db88b49c213ff24","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-45-45-722","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-45-45-724"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}