“mine”
means -
| (a) | any excavation in the earth, whether being worked or not, made for the purpose of searching for or winning a mineral; or |
| (b) | any other place where a mineral deposit is being worked and any quarry, including the mining area or other places at or near a mine on which buildings, constructions, mine dumps, dams, machinery or objects are situated and which are used or intended to be used for the following operations or any operation necessary or incidental thereto, namely - |
| (i) | the searching for or winning a mineral; |
| (ii) | the crushing, reducing, dressing, concentration or smelting of a mineral; |
| (iii) | the production of a product of commercial value, excluding a clay or earthenware product or cement, from a mineral; or |
| (iv) | the extracting, concentration or refining of any constituent of a mineral: |
Provided that if two or more such excavations or places are being worked in conjunction with one another, they shall be deemed to comprise one mine unless the Chief Inspector as contemplated in the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996, notifies the owner thereof in writing that such excavations or places comprise two or more mines;
[Definition substituted by section 1 of the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Amendment Act, No. 208 of 1993]