Collection: Open Pit

Open-pit blasting is the production work that moves rock at scale — coal, copper, gold, iron ore, and aggregate, drilled on benches and shot pattern by pattern. Holes are bigger than underground (typically 3"– 12"+), patterns are larger, and the bench is exposed to sun, dust, water, and weather. The tools that work in a narrow tunnel heading don't always work on a surface bench, and the tools that work on a quarry face don't always work in a coal pit. Open pit needs gear built for surface conditions, surface hole sizes, and surface tolerances.

MTi GROUP's open-pit kit covers every stage of the blast — from measuring hole depth before loading to stemming the column after the charge goes in, plus the wall-control work on trim and pre-split rows. Documented across coal in the Powder River Basin, iron ore in South America, gold in West Africa, and quarry sites across the US.

What Makes Open-Pit Blasting Different

• Larger hole diameters — production holes typically run 3"–12.25" (76–311 mm), with pre-split rows at 3"–4.5" (76–115 mm)
• Longer benches and deeper holes — depth gauges and load poles need real reach
• Wall and bench protection — pre-split, trim, and final-row work decides whether the next bench is stable
• Exposed conditions — surface UV, dust, water, and temperature swings stress every product on the bench
• High volume — hundreds of holes per pattern, thousands per shift — the kit has to work reliably every time

What MTi Supplies for Open Pit

Every category in the catalog has open-pit-specific products. The biggest revenue drivers:

• BLASTBAGS™ — aerosol (SOLO, EVO) and chemical (ACE II) inflatable gas bags for surface air decking, from 3" to 12.25" (76–311 mm). The most-used air deck system in open-pit drill and blast worldwide.
• Stemming Plugs — ROCKRIVETS for production retention and pre-split work, MITIPLUG for uphole emulsion, BLASTBALL for wet holes and breakthroughs.
• Loading — kiln-dried poplar load poles in 5–12 ft (1.5–3.7 m) lengths with non-sparking copper alloy ends, plus Tamping Plugs, Barbed Retrievers, and a brass Powder Punch for OSHA 1910.109-compliant cap-hole priming.
• Measuring — Tape & Reel (TuffTape brand or fiberglass), engineered Depth Gauge, premium stainless-steel MITIMEASURE polyline, plus TruPulse laser rangefinder and Garmin GPS for above-ground pattern layout.
• Collar Protection — Hole Saver / CollarCone in sizes from 76 mm to 311 mm to protect the collar zone from fall-back, water, and dust between drilling and loading.
• In-Hole Accessories — Shot Bags, SLUMPSTOPPA, MultiFit Spider, and Booster Lock for everything that goes down the hole during loading.
• Inflation Equipment — the kit (UGHR, droplines, handheld inflators, AB-C couplings) that delivers compressed air to BLASTBAG AERO and BLASTBALL.

What Open-Pit Crews Use This Kit For

• Production blasting — air deck the column, stem the hole, measure depth, retrieve stuck gear
• Pre-splitting and trim rows — ROCKRIVETS, BLASTBAGS, and stemming plugs to cut backbreak on final walls
• Wet hole loading — BLASTBALL and Shot Bags to keep emulsion or ANFO in place when water is present
• Reactive ground — Blast Hole Temperature Probe to confirm conditions before charging
• Bench layout — TruPulse and Garmin for burden, spacing, and pattern corners
• Boundary blasting — flyrock reduction and wall control near public roads or infrastructure

Why MTi Group for Open-Pit Operations

The MTi range is built specifically for drill and blast — every product is designed by people who've been on a bench, not engineers who've never seen a shot. Non-sparking metals where it counts. Sized for production holes, not retail tools. Same-day shipping from Stanton, KY so you're not waiting weeks for product to arrive. Documented results across coal, gold, iron ore, and copper sites worldwide. And if you're not sure which product fits your operation, the team takes the call — no chatbot, no overseas escalation.