Tights are stubborn protrusions of unbroken rock left behind after a blast fails to pull to its full designed depth or width. They occur when explosives do not completely fracture the burden, often due to poor stemming, incorrect timing, or unexpected geological hard spots. Removing tights requires secondary drilling and blasting, which slows down the mucking cycle and increases operational costs.
Heard on the job
The blast left a couple of tights on the left wall, so bring the jumbo back in to pop them before we scale.
Insider tip
Tights most commonly occur at the toe of a bench where the explosive energy is most confined.
Also heard as
- tight rock