When any mine or portion of a mine or machine, device, apparatus or equipment pertaining to a mine, in the judgment of the state mine inspector, is in so dangerous a condition from any cause or creates such a hazard as to jeopardize life or health, the state mine inspector shall at once direct the management or operator of the mine to remove the dangerous condition or safeguard the equipment. Should the state mine inspector find during inspection of the mine a dangerous condition existing in the mine that might cause loss of life or serious personal injury to the employees, the state mine inspector has the right to require the operator to immediately withdraw all persons from the dangerous places or from the entire mine. In the event the operator fails or refuses to immediately comply with the requirements or instructions of the state mine inspector, the state mine inspector shall issue an order closing all or any portion of the mine to regular operations and notify a representative of the miners and the mine safety and health administration immediately.

History: Laws 1933, ch. 153, § 20; 1941 Comp., § 67-410; 1953 Comp., § 63-4-12; Laws 1961, ch. 108, § 1; 1973, ch. 218, § 3; 1989, ch. 193, § 3; 2007, ch. 301, § 5; 2007, ch. 302, § 5.

Cross references. — For the federal Mine Safety and Health Act, see 30 U.S.C. § 801. The mine safety and health administration is a division of the federal department of labor.

The 2007 amendment, effective June 20, 2007, authorized the state mine inspector to issue an order closing all or part of a mine to regular operation and required the inspector to notify a representative of the miners and the mine safety and health administration.

Laws 2007, ch. 301, § 5 and Laws 2007, ch. 302, § 5, both effective June 20, 2007, enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2007, ch. 302, § 5. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

The 1989 amendment, effective July 1, 1989, substituted "state mine inspector" for "inspector" in the first sentence, inserted "through the district attorney for the district in which the mine is located" in the last sentence and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.

Endangered health prerequisite to closing mine. — In order to stop the operation of a mine, inspector must first determine that cause exists. Under this section, the determination must be that there is so dangerous a condition from any cause, as to jeopardize life or health. In advance of such a determination, there is no power to order a cessation of operation of a working mine. The same reasoning would obtain in the case of a mine which is proposed to be reactivated. It may be true that in such mines, generally, some cause would exist for recommendations and regulation and even an order that the operation of the mine be halted until conditions were corrected. 1956 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 56-6442.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 58 C.J.S. Mines and Minerals § 237.