The conditions for rockbursts occurrence are traditionally identified as: high stress, highextraction ratio, strong brittle rocks, folding, faulting and unfavourable excavation geometry.Some rockbursts cannot be explained by any one or a combination of these factors. Salamon(1983) stated that a disconcerting feature of rockbursts is that they defy conventional explanation.Based on detailed review of case histories, this paper identifies oblique loading of orebodies bythe major far field principal stress as a cause of rockbursts. Orebodies subjected to this loadingcondition are termed orebodies in shear. Orebodies in shear are subjected to compressive andshear loads. This paper shows it is risky to generalise that tabular orebodies have their axisperpendicular to the major far field principal stress. This study identifies characteristics oforebodies in shear and the consequences of not taking this loading mechanism into account inthe planning, design and mining of such orebodies.