1. In this Act,“brine” means any natural aqueous solution containing more than 4% by weight of dissolved solids;
“mineral substances” means natural mineral substances in solid, gaseous or liquid form, except water, and fossilized organic matter;
“natural gas” means all hydrocarbons and other substances which can be extracted from the ground in gaseous form;
“outstanding geological site” means land whose geological, geomorphic, landscape or biological characteristics are of educational value, or of interest for scientific research or conservation purposes, and that deserves to be protected, in particular because it is threatened, rare or vulnerable;
“petroleum” means crude oil and other hydrocarbons which can be extracted from the ground in liquid form;
“to prospect” means to examine a territory for the purpose of searching for mineral substances without holding real and immovable mining rights in respect of the territory searched, except in the case of a licence to explore for petroleum, natural gas and underground reservoirs, an authorization to produce brine or a lease to produce petroleum or natural gas or to operate an underground reservoir;
“surface mineral substances” means peat; sand including silica sand; gravel; limestone; calcite; dolomite; common clay and argillaceous rocks used in the manufacture of clay products; all types of rocks used as dimension stone, crushed stone or silica ore or in the making of cement; and every mineral substance that is found in its natural state as a loose deposit, except the tilth, as well as inert mine tailings, where such substances and tailings are used for construction purposes, for the manufacture of construction materials, or for the improvement of soils ;
“tailings” means rejected mineral substances, sludge and water, except the final effluent, from extraction operations and ore treatment, and slag from pyrometallurgy operations;
“well head value” means the average retail price, excluding all taxes less the average transportation costs from the well to the retail outlets, measurement costs and, where such is the case, purification costs.