Title 45, Title 45 — Mines and Mining

Every person who willfully obstructs the Chief Inspector or his assistant inspectors in the execution of his or their duties, and every owner, agent, lessee or manager of a mine who refuses or neglects to furnish to the Cheif Mine Inspector or his assistants, the means necessary …

The Oklahoma Department of Mines shall have jurisdiction over only those borrow pits which are located on property permitted as commercial mining operations pursuant to Title 45 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Added by Laws 1993, c. 232, § 2, eff. July 1, 1993.

Certifications required by this title shall be issued under the signature and seal of the Oklahoma Mining Commission. Such certificates shall bear the date of issuance, full name and age of the recipient and shall designate the position for which the recipient is certified by the…

The owner, agent, lessee or operator of every coal or other mine, shall make, or cause to be made by a competent mining engineer or surveyor, an accurate map or plan, of such mine, no smaller than on a scale of two hundred (200) feet to an inch, which map shall show as follows: (…

At least every six (6) months, or oftener if necessary, the operator, owner, lessee, or agent of each mine shall cause to be shown accurately on the map or plan of said mine, all the excavations made therein during the time elapsing since such excavations were last shown upon sai…

The operator or superintendent of every mine shall furnish the mine inspectors of the district in which said mine is located with a correct copy, on tracing muslin or sunprint, of the map or plan of said mine hereinbefore provided for, and the inspector of the district shall at t…

If any superintendent or operator of mines shall neglect or fail to furnish to the mine inspector any copy of maps or plans as hereinbefore required by this Act, or, if the mine inspector shall believe that any map or plan of any coal or other mine made or furnished in pursuance …

In the preparation of maps of the territory being, or to be, developed in mining operations, it shall be the duty of the operator, where practicable, to furnish the district inspector prospective plans suitable to the coal seam and adjacent strata, for the safe economic extractio…

It shall be unlawful for the operator or superintendent, mine foreman or other person, to employ more than ten persons in any coal or other mine, or permit more than ten persons to be employed therein at any one time unless they are in communication with at least two available op…

In all shaft mines the openings to the surface hereinbefore provided for shall be separated from each other by natural strata at all points by a distance of not less than one hundred fifty (150) feet, and at all mines worked by slope openings, the distance separating openings sha…

When the opening or outlet other than the main opening is a shaft and does not exceed seventy-five (75) feet in vertical depth, and is used by the employees for the purpose of ingress and egress from the mine, it shall be kept in a safe and available condition and free from steam…

When any mine is operated by a shaft which exceeds seventy-five (75) feet in vertical depth, the persons employed in said mine shall be lowered into and raised from said mine by means of machinery, and where the employees are lowered into and hoisted from the mines at the main sh…

At any mine where one of the two openings as required herein, is a slope and is used as a traveling way, it shall not have a greater angle of descent than twenty degrees (20o) and may be of any depth. R.L.1910, § 3965.

The ropes, chains, machinery and all of its connections used for lowering or raising the employees into or out of the mines, and the stairs used for ingress and egress shall be kept in a safe condition, and inspected once every twenty-four (24) hours by a competent person provide…

The operator or superintendent shall provide and maintain from the top to bottom of every shaft, where persons are raised or lowered, a metal tube suitably adapted to the free passage of sound through which conversation may be held between persons at the top and bottom of said sh…

The main coupling chain, attached to the socket of the wire rope, shall be made of the best quality of iron and shall be tested by weights, or otherwise, to the satisfaction of the mine inspector of the district where the mine is located, and the bridle chains shall be attached t…

No greater number of persons shall be lowered or hoisted at any one time than may be permitted by the mine inspector of the district, and notice of the number so allowed to be lowered or hoisted at any one time shall be kept posted up by the operator or superintendent in conspicu…

The ropes, chains, machinery and all of its connections used at the operating shaft and slope mines, where the employees are lowered into or hoisted from the mine, and the same used on all gravity and inclined planes, shall be inspected and a record made of said inspection in the…

The operator of every coal or other mine, whether shaft, slope or drift shall provide and hereafter maintain ample means of ventilation affording not less than one hundred fifty (150) cubic feet of air per minute, for each and every person employed therein, and seven hundred fift…

Stoppings between intake and return airways. Not more than forty-five persons shall be permitted to work in the same air current and mines where ten or more persons are employed shall be provided with a fan or other artificial means to produce the ventilation, but no furnace shal…

All ventilating fans shall be kept in operation night and day unless operations are indefinitely suspended, except written permission is given by the mine inspector of the district to stop the same, and the said written permission shall state the particular hours the said fan may…

All mines generating fire damp shall be kept free of standing gas in all working places and roadways. No accumulation of explosive gas shall be allowed to exist in the worked-out or abandoned parts of any mine. It shall be removed as soon as possible after its discovery, and no m…

In all mines wherein explosive gas is generated, and also in all mines where the fire damp has generated, in sufficient quantities to be detected by the ordinary safety lamp, every working place without exception, and all roadways shall be carefully examined immediately before ea…

The fire boss shall at each entrance to the mine, or to the main intake airway, near to the mine entrance, prepare a permanent station with the proper danger signals designated as follows: X-(DATE OF MONTH)-X and it shall not be lawful for any person or persons, except the mine o…

In all mines where electricity is, used as a part of the system, power or means of mining and procuring the coal or other mineral therefrom, the owners, or operators thereof shall cause all wires conducting electricity in and about said mines, to be carefully and thoroughly insul…

In mines where mining machines are used, each machine shall be equipped and provided with a sufficient shield for the protection of those employed in or about said machines or in the use and operation thereof, and said shield shall be kept in use constantly while said machine is …

The oiling or greasing of cars inside of the mines is strictly forbidden, unless the place where said oil or grease is used is thoroughly cleansed once every day to prevent the accumulation of waste oil or grease on the roads or in the drains at that point. Not more than one (1) …

In any place that is being driven towards, or in dangerous proximity to, an abandoned mine or part of mine, suspected of containing inflammable, noxious or poisonous gases, or which may be inundated with water, boreholes shall be kept not less than twelve (12) feet in advance of …

In case any entry, or room in any coal mine in this state is so dry that the air becomes clogged with dust, the operator, owner, lessee or agent, or whoever is operating said mine in any capacity, shall have such entry, airway or room, regularly and thoroughly sprinkled, sprayed …

In order to promote the safety in coal mines by eliminating the hazards of rock dust in coal mines, it is hereby made the duty of every person or persons, partnership, association, corporation, owner, operator and/or lessee of any coal mine in this state to employ and use water o…

Any person or persons, partnership, association, corporation, owner, operator and/or lessee of any coal mine in this state, who shall violate the provisions of Sections 528.1, 528.2, and 528.3 of this title, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be f…

machines. It is hereby also unlawful for any person, miner, operator of a rock drill or machine runner to operate either a mining machine when cutting or drilling in rock without water on cutter bar or rock drill contrary to the provisions of Sections 528.1-528.3, and any such pe…

(A) Any person or persons, partnership, association, corporation, owner, operator and/or lessee of any mine in this state must comply with the workers' compensation laws of the State of Oklahoma. (B) Any violation of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punish…

A violation of Section 16 hereof, or of any part thereof, shall be a misdemeanor, and any one convicted of such violation shall be fined not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or imprisoned in the county jail not less than th…

certificates - Notice and list of names. The Secretary of the Oklahoma Mining Commission shall make a record of the names and addresses of all persons to whom certificates are issued. Certificates of competency when issued as provided for herein, shall entitle the holders thereof…

It shall be unlawful for any person to change, exchange, substitute, alter or remove any number or check number placed upon any car or pit car in or about any mine in the State of Oklahoma, with intent to cheat or defraud any other person out of the value of his services in minin…

Every person who shall violate any of the provisions of Section twelve of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum of not more than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or imprisonment not to exceed one (1) month in the county…

All operators of coal or other mines shall keep posted in a conspicuous place the special and general rules embodied in, and made a part of this chapter, defining the duties of all persons employed in and about said mine, which said rules shall be printed in the English language …

The term "mine committee" as used in this chapter, shall be construed to mean the committee selected by the miners of each mine. The terms "assistant inspector," "district inspector," and "district mine inspector" as used in this chapter, shall be construed to mean "assistant min…

The neglect, failure or refusal to perform any of the duties required by any section of this chapter, by any firm, association, corporation, person or parties required to perform them, shall be a misdemeanor, and where the duty so neglected, failed or refused to be performed is b…

operating or abandoned mine - Penalty. If any person shall construct or cause to be constructed for use, after the effective date of this act, any sewer or other method of drainage from any building or dwelling house for the carrying of sewage, offal, refuse or other offensive ma…

This act may be known and cited as "The Mining Lands Reclamation Act". Laws 1971, c. 332, § 1, emerg. eff. June 12, 1971.

It is hereby declared to be the policy of this state to provide for the reclamation and conservation of land subjected to surface disturbance by mining and thereby to preserve natural resources, to encourage the productive use of such lands after mining, to aid in the protection …

Whenever used or referred to in Sections 722 through 738 of this title, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context: 1. "Overburden" means all of the earth and other materials which lie above natural deposits of minerals, and also means such earth and other materi…

Permit or bond release applications. A. It shall be unlawful for any operator to engage in any mining operations in this state without first obtaining a permit or a Limited Use Permit from the Department of Mines for each separate mining operation. The Department shall determine …

A. All affected land other than lands affected by coal mining operations shall be reclaimed as provided in this section. B. The operator shall determine which parts of the affected land shall be reclaimed for forest, pasture, crop, horticultural, homesite, recreational, industria…

All refuse disposal areas shall be reclaimed or treated or the refuse be contained by the operator to avoid adverse environmental effects. Laws 1971, c. 332, § 6, emerg. eff. June 12, 1971.

The Department, or its accredited representatives, may enter upon the lands of the operator at all reasonable times, for the purpose of inspection, to determine whether the provisions of this act have been complied with. Laws 1971, c. 332, § 7, emerg. eff. June 12, 1971.

A. Any bond required to be filed with the Department by the operator shall be in such form as the Director prescribes, payable to the State of Oklahoma, conditioned that the operator shall faithfully perform all requirements of the Mining Lands Reclamation Act and comply with all…

surface owners. The Department of Mines shall notify the operator and the surety in writing of any claimed violation of the provisions of the Mining Lands Reclamation Act or the rules of the Department. If the alleged violation is discovered as a result of a citizen complaint and…