Section 72-1001. Definitions

1. "Affected land" and "land affected by mining" means the sum of that
  surface area of land or land under water which:
    (a)  has  been disturbed by mining since April first, nineteen hundred
  seventy-five, and has not been reclaimed, and
    (b) is to be disturbed by mining during the  term  of  the  permit  to
  mine.
    2.  "Mining"  means the extraction of overburden and minerals from the
  earth;  the  preparation  and  processing  of  minerals,  including  any
  activities  or  processes or parts thereof for the extraction or removal
  of minerals from their original location and the  preparation,  washing,
  cleaning, crushing, or other processing of minerals at the mine location
  so  as  to make them suitable for commercial, industrial or construction
  use, exclusive of manufacturing processes, at  the  mine  location;  the
  removal  of  such materials through sale or exchange, or for commercial,
  industrial or municipal use; and the disposition of overburden, tailings
  and  waste  at  the  mine  location.  "Mining"  shall  not  include  the
  excavation,  removal  and  disposition  of  minerals  from  construction
  projects, exclusive of the creation of water bodies, or  excavations  in
  aid of agricultural activities.
    3.  "Minor  projects"  means  projects which meet all of the following
  criteria:
    (a) total acreage affected by mining for the  entire  mining  site  is
  less than five acres, regardless of length of mining period;
    (b)  total  depth  of mine from floor to top of mine face is less than
  twenty feet;
    (c) there  is  no  on-site  processing  of  minerals  (e.g.,  washing,
  crushing);
    (d) there is no mining within one hundred feet of any surface waters;
    (e) there is no mining of consolidated minerals;
    (f) there is no mining within five hundred feet of any dwelling; and
    (g) there is no mining below the water table at the mine site.