"A 'mine' means any place where mechanical disturbance of the ground takes place for the purpose of prospecting for or producing coal, mineral-bearing substances, placer minerals, rock, limestone, peat, clay, sand or gravel and oil sands and shales; it includes all machinery, equipment, building and civil engineering structures (such as tailings dams and waste-rock and overburden dumps) used in conjunction with mining and the subsequent on-site treatment of the products or servicing of these activities. This definition covers the main purpose of the activity, namely the search for, the extraction of and the related crushing, grinding, concentrating or washing of a product."

Safety and health in mines, Report V(1), International Labour Conference, 81st Session, Geneva, 1994 (pdf 917 KB)