MINES, QUARRIES, AND MINERALS

(1) No person shall, after the appointed date-

unless he has given the Inspector and the Government Agent notice, of not less than one month, of his intention so to do. A separate notice shall be given in respect of each shaft or tunnel which opens on the surface of the land and which is not connected or to be connected to any other shaft or tunnel on the same land.

(2) After the appointed date, every person who closes a mine or ceases to have an interest in any mine shall forthwith give the Inspector and the Government Agent notice of the closing of the mine or of the fact that he has ceased to have any interest in the mine, as the case may be.

(3) Every notice under subsection (1) shall be in writing under the hand of the person by whom it is given and shall contain the following particulars: –

(4) In this section, ” land ” includes Crown land.

(1) A return in the prescribed form and containing the prescribed particulars as to the mining operations actually carried on in each mine shall-

to the Inspector and to the Government Agent by the owner or his agent, or where a manager has been appointed for the mine, by such manager.

(2) Regulations may be made requiring returns (other than the returns referred to in subsection (1) ) to be furnished, and prescribing the particulars to be set out in such returns, and the persons by whom and the intervals at which such returns are to be furnished.

(1) The owner of every mine or his agent shall appoint, not later than one month after the opening of the mine, a manager who shall have the control, management and direction of the mine.

Where the manager so appointed relinquishes, or is removed from, office the owner or agent shall appoint a new manager within one month thereafter.

(2) No person who does not possess the prescribed qualifications shall be eligible for appointment as manager of a mine.

(3) The owner of a mine or the agent of such owner may appoint himself as manager of the mine, if he possesses the prescribed qualifications.

(4) Every question as to whether any person selected for appointment as manager of a mine by the owner thereof or his agent possesses the prescribed qualifications shall be referred for decision to the Government Mineralogist and his decision shall be final.

(5) The name and address of every manager appointed under subsection (1) shall be forthwith communicated to the Inspector and the Government Agent by the owner of the mine or his agent.

(1) a log book for the use of the Inspector and other officers ;

(2) a register of all persons employed in the mine showing in respect of each such person-

(3) a register or map showing on what part of the mine any worker is employed at any particular time.

(1) The owner or manager of a mine shall not employ any worker in any underground working in the mine which, in the opinion of the Inspector, is not adequately ventilated.

(2) The prescribed precautions against noxious gases shall be adopted in every mine before work is resumed in any shaft which has remained unused for any period exceeding such time-limit as may be prescribed.

(1) all shafts, adits, levels, galleries, and underground passages shall, at all times when necessary, be timbered and supported, in a manner capable of ensuring the safety of all persons working in or passing through them ;

(2) all such fencing shall be erected and maintained as may be necessary to prevent any danger or damage to man or beast;

(3) such ladderways or other means shall be provided and maintained as will furnish effectual means of exit from any underground working, or of ascent or descent without the aid of winding machinery ;

(4) the mouth of every shaft, which for the time being is out of use or used only as an airshaft, shall be surrounded with a substantial wall or fence ;

(5) every abandoned shaft shall be filled in as soon as it ceases to be required for any further use ; and

(6) every shaft which is not being worked shall be kept securely fenced until it is filled in.

(1) No blasting powder, high explosives or petroleum or other inflammable oil in bulk, or other substance of an explosive or dangerous nature, shall be stored, placed, or used in or near any mine or mining area or building, except in such places, in such quantities, in such manner, and under such conditions, as may be prescribed.

(2) No detonator, match or fuse or highly inflammable substance or liquid shall be stored together with any other explosive or inflammable substance or liquid in or near any mine or mining area or building.

(1) After the appointed date, no person shall open, work or use a quarry unless he is the holder of a licence granted in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

(2) Every licence granted under this Part shall expire on the thirty-first day of December of the year in respect of which it is issued.

(1) Every licence to open, work or use a quarry not being a gem pit which is less than thirty-two feet in depth shall be granted-

(2) Every licence to open, work or use a quarry, being a gem pit which is less than thirty-two feet in depth shall be granted by the Government Agent.

(1) Any person authorized by section 17 to grant a licence to open, work or use a quarry may, in his discretion, refuse to grant any such licence, or may revoke any such licence in the event of a contravention of any condition subject to which the licence was granted.

(2) Every person aggrieved by an order under subsection (1) refusing to grant a licence or revoking a licence may appeal, within fourteen days from the date of the order, to the Magistrate’s Court of the judicial division within which the quarry is situated and the Magistrate may make such order as he thinks just.

(a) where it is levied by any Municipal Council, Urban Council, Town Council or Village Committee, be paid into the funds of that Council or Committee, as the case may be ; and

(b) where it is levied by any Government Agent, be credited to the Consolidated Fund.[1]

(a) for prescribing the conditions on which licences under this Part are to be granted ;

(b) for providing for the inspection, and the investigation of the state and condition, of any quarry or any part thereof ; and

(c) prescribing all measures necessary for ensuring the safety and welfare of the persons employed in or in connexion with a quarry.

(1) Nothing in this Part shall be deemed to affect the operation of the Wells and Pits Ordinance.

(2) Nothing in this Part, other than regulations made under section 21 (c), shall apply to quarries situated on Crown land.

(1) No young person shall work or be engaged or permitted to work underground in a mine except as hereinafter provided.

(2) No young person who has not completed the age of sixteen years shall work or be engaged or permitted to work underground in any mine.

(3) On the application of any young person who has completed the age of sixteen years and who wishes to work in a mine, or of the parent or guardian of such young person, or of the manager of the mine where the young person wishes to work, the medical officer shall examine the young person, and if he is satisfied that that person has completed sixteen years of age and is fit for a full day’s work in a mine, shall issue a certificate of fitness accordingly.

(4) No young person shall work or be engaged or permitted to work in a mine, unless a certificate of fitness issued in respect of that young person is first deposited with the manager of the mine.

(5) At the time of the engagement of a young person as a worker, the manager of the mine shall issue to the young person a token bearing a reference to the certificate of fitness deposited under subsection (4).

(6) No young person shall work or be permitted to work in a mine unless he carries on his person while he is at work the token issued to him under subsection (5).

(7) Any young person working in a mine may, at the instance of an inspector of labour or of any other officer duly authorized by the Commissioner, be examined at any time by the medical officer, and if upon such examination he is found to be no longer fit to work in the mine, his certificate of fitness shall be revoked by the medical officer.

(8) Every young person whose certificate of fitness is revoked under subsection (7) shall forthwith be discharged from employment by the manager of the mine.

(1) No young person shall work or be permitted to work during the night in any mine.

(2) No young person shall be ordered or compelled to work underground in a mine for more than eight hours on any one day, inclusive of one hour for meals and rest, or for more than forty-four hours during any six consecutive days.

(3) The hours of work of every young person in a mine shall be so arranged that they shall not spread over more than ten hours on any one day.

(4) No young person shall work or be permitted to work in any mine on any day on which he has already worked in any other mine for the maximum number of hours prescribed by subsection (2) for any one day.

(1) No adult worker shall be ordered or compelled to work underground in a mine for more than eight hours on any one day, inclusive of one hour for meals and rest, or for more than forty-eight hours during any six consecutive days.

(2) The hours of work of every adult worker in a mine shall be so arranged that they shall not spread over more than ten hours on any one day.

(3) No adult worker shall work or be permitted to work in any mine on any day on which he has already worked in any other mine for the maximum number of hours prescribed by subsection (1) for any one day.

(4) In the case of mines generally, or of any one or more specified mines, other limits extending the hours of work of adult workers set out in subsection (1) may be prescribed by regulation ; and this section in its application to such mine or mines, shall accordingly be construed as if, for the limits set out in subsection (1), the limits so prescribed had been substituted.

(1) There shall be provided for the use of the workers in each mine, in such manner and according to such standards and specifications as may be prescribed-

(2) On the premises of every mine in which more than one hundred workers are ordinarily employed at any one time-

(1) There may be appointed[3]-

(2) In the exercise of his powers and the discharge of his duties under this Ordinance, every Inspector shall be subject to the supervision and control of the Government Mineralogist.

(3) The Government Mineralogist, every Inspector and every other officer and servant appointed under this section, shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code.

(1) The Commissioner of Labour shall be responsible for the administration of the provisions of Part III of this Ordinance.

(2) Subject to any general or special direction of the Commissioner any Deputy Commissioner of Labour or Assistant Commissioner of Labour may exercise, perform, or discharge any power, duty or function vested in the Commissioner by this Ordinance.

(a) to enter, with such servants or assistants as may be necessary, any mine, or any place in which he has reason to believe that a mine has been opened or reopened ;

(b) to inspect, examine or test the mine or the machinery or equipment therein, to give directions by written notices for the removal of any defect therein, not being a defect for the removal of which provision is made by section 36, and to question any person working or present therein ;

(c) to give by written notice such directions as may be necessary to ensure the working of mineral deposits in such a manner as not to prejudice their value or cause undue waste.

(a) to enter and inspect at all reasonable hours any mine in which workers are employed, and to examine any register, record of wages, certificate or other document required to be kept under this Ordinance, and to make such examination and enquiry as may be necessary to ascertain whether the provisions of this Ordinance are complied with ;

(b) to take copies of any such register, record of wages, certificate or other document or of any part thereof ;

(c) to examine, either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, with respect to the matters specified in Part III, every person whom he finds in a mine, or whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been within the preceding two months employed in a mine, and to require every such person to be so examined and to sign a declaration of the truth of the matters respecting which he is examined, so however that no one shall be required under this provision to answer any question or to give any evidence tending to criminate himself.

(1) Where, in the opinion of the Inspector, injury to any person is likely to result in any mine or in the vicinity by reason of the fact that the mine is not adequately ventilated or by reason of non-compliance with any of the provisions of sections 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13, the Inspector may, by written notice, served on the owner, manager or other person having effective charge and control of the mine, prohibit further working in the mine until the causes complained of have been removed or remedied.

(2) Every notice served under subsection (1) shall contain a statement of the causes which, in the opinion of the Inspector, are likely to lead to injury and shall take effect as soon as it is served on any of the persons aforesaid.

(3) The Inspector shall within forty-eight hours of the service of any notice under subsection (1) send a full statement of the facts through the Government Mineralogist to the Minister1 and the Minister may confirm or cancel the notice or make such other order as to him may seem just. Where a notice is cancelled by the Minister, such cancellation shall not prejudice the validity of anything previously done thereunder. Every order made by the Minister under this subsection shall be forthwith communicated by the Inspector to the owner, manager or other person in effective charge and control of the mine.

(4) Where any mine is worked in contravention of a notice or order served or made under this section, the owner as well as the manager of the mine shall be guilty of an offence.

(1) All copies of and extracts from registers or other records appertaining to any mine, and all other information acquired by any person in the course of the inspection of any mine under this Ordinance or acquired by any person in the performance of his duties thereunder shall be treated as confidential.

(2) If any person mentioned in subsection (1) discloses to anyone for any purpose other than a prescribed purpose any information to which that subsection applies, he shall be guilty of an offence under this Ordinance.

(1) The owner or his agent and the manager of each mine shall be responsible for taking all such measures as may be necessary for ensuring that all operations carried on in the mine or in connexion therewith are conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance and of the regulations and of any orders made thereunder and applicable to such mine.

(2) In the event of any contravention of any of the provisions referred to in subsection (1), in addition to the person committing the contravention, the owner or his agent and the manager of the mine shall each be deemed also to be guilty of such contravention, unless he proves that he had taken all reasonable means to prevent such contravention.

(1) Every person who fails to comply with any direction or requisition of any officer in pursuance of this Ordinance shall be guilty of an offence under this Ordinance.

(2) Every contravention of any of the provisions of this Ordinance or any regulation made thereunder, or of any of the conditions attached to any licence granted under Part II, shall be an offence under this Ordinance.

(1) Every person who is guilty of an offence under this Ordinance (not being an offence under Part II) shall be liable, on conviction after summary trial before a Magistrate-

(2) Every person who is guilty of an offence under Part II of this Ordinance shall be liable on conviction-

(3) Every fine recovered in respect of an offence relating to a quarry under Part II of this Ordinance shall-

(1) Where the owner of a mine, in or in relation to which an offence under this Ordinance is committed, is a company, every director of the company, and the manager of the mine, shall severally be liable to be prosecuted and punished for the offence.

(2) In every other case, the owner, or the agent of the owner, of a mine, in or in relation to which an offence under this Ordinance is committed, and the manager of the mine, shall severally be liable to be prosecuted and punished for the offence.

(1) The Minister[1] may make regulations for prescribing all standards, requirements, specifications, conditions and other matters required or authorized by this Ordinance to be prescribed, and all such other regulations as to him[1] may seem necessary for carrying out the provisions, and giving effect to the principles of this Ordinance.

(2) No regulation relating to any matter specified in Part III of this Ordinance shall be made without the concurrence of the Minister[1] charged with the subject of Labour.[2]

(3) No regulation made by the Minister[1] under subsection (1) shall have effect until it is approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives[1] and notification of such approval is published in the Gazette.

(4) Every regulation made by the Minister,[1] approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives [1] as aforesaid shall, upon the publication of the notification referred to in subsection (3), be as valid and effectual as if it were herein enacted.

(1) In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires-

” adult” means a person who has completed his eighteenth year ;

” Commissioner ” means the Commissioner of Labour and includes a Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Labour;

” day ” means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at midnight;

” Government Agent”, in relation to any mine or quarry, means the Government Agent of the administrative district, in which the mine or quarry is situated ;

” Inspector” in any context relating to a mine, means the Inspector of Mines appointed under this Ordinance, and where different Inspectors are appointed for different parts of Ceylon, means the Inspector appointed for that part of Ceylon within which the mine is situated ;

” licensed engineer” means a mechanical engineer licensed for the purposes of this Ordinance in such manner as may be prescribed ;

” machinery” means any plant whereby power is generated, transformed, transmitted or applied, and includes boilers for generating steam, air receivers, and any other vessels containing air, gas, steam, or other elastic fluid with a pressure of more than ten pounds ;

” manager ” means the person, whether paid or unpaid, who has effective charge and control of a mine;

” medical officer” means a Government medical officer ;

” mine ” means any excavation where any operation for the purpose of searching for or obtaining minerals is carried on, and includes all works, machinery, tramways and sidings, whether above or below ground, in, adjacent to or belonging to a mine, but does not include-

” mineral” includes gold, silver, gems and precious stones;

” night” means the period between seven o’clock in the evening and six o’clock in the morning ;

“power” means any form of energy which is not generated by human or animal agency and is mechanically transmitted, and includes electrical energy ;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulation made under this Ordinance ;

” quarry ” means any excavation from which stone for building and road metal, cabook or gravel is obtained and includes any gem pit which is less than thirty-two feet in depth ;

” opening, working or using a mine ” means the sinking of any shaft, or the driving of any level or inclined plane, and includes any act whatsoever whereby the soil or earth of any rock, stone or quartz in or under any land is disturbed, removed, carried, washed, sifted, or otherwise dealt with for the purpose of searching for or obtaining minerals therefrom ; and the grammatical variations of that expression shall be construed accordingly ;

” opening, working or using a quarry ” includes any act whatsoever whereby the soil or any rock, stone, cabook or gravel three feet below the surface of any land is disturbed, dug, blasted, removed, carried or otherwise dealt with for the purpose of obtaining rock, stone, cabook, gravel, gems or precious stones; and the grammatical variations of that expression shall be construed accordingly ;

” worker ” means any person employed, whether for wages or not, in any of the actual processes or operations in a mine, or in cleaning any part of the machinery or premises, or in any other work incidental to or connected with the actual processes or operations, but does not include any person employed solely in a clerical capacity ;

” young person ” means a person who has completed his fourteenth but has not completed his eighteenth year.

(2) If any question arises whether an excavation is a mine within the meaning of this Ordinance, such question shall be referred to the Minister[1] whose decision thereon shall be final.

(3) The provisions of this Ordinance shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other written law relating to the employment of women or young persons.

(i) all rules made under the Mines and Machinery Ordinance, 1896, which relate to mines and are in force on the day immediately preceding the appointed date shall, so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance and so far as they may be necessary for the purpose of supplementing those provisions, continue in force as if they were regulations made under this Ordinance, until they are rescinded or replaced by regulations made under this Ordinance ;

(ii) all licences granted under the Gemming Ordinance, 1890, or the Quarries Ordinance, 1889, and in force on the day immediately preceding the appointed date, shall be deemed for all purposes to be licences granted under Part II of this Ordinance.