When used in this title the following terms, unless otherwise defined, shall be construed to have the following meaning:
1. "Coal" means lignite, subbituminous, cannel, bituminous, semibituminous, semianthracite, anthracite and asphaltic minerals or other hydrocarbons recovered by mining.
2. "Mine" means a quarry, an underground or surface excavation and development with or without shafts, slopes, drifts or tunnels, for the extraction of coal or minerals, with hoisting or haulage equipment and appliances for the extraction of coal or minerals, and shall embrace any and all of the land or property of the mining plant, and the surface and underground, that contribute directly or indirectly to the mining properties, concentration or handling of coal or minerals.
3. "Minerals" means asphalt, clay, copper, granite, gravel, gypsum, lead, marble, salt, sand, shale, stone, tripoli, volcanic ash and zinc, or any other substance commonly recognized as a mineral and includes ores or rock containing any such substances but excludes oil, gas and any other mineral found naturally in a liquid or gaseous state.
Amended by Laws 1982, c. 296, § 12.