Normet has launched HX-Bolt, a hybrid anchorage system for underground mining applications that combines mechanical, frictional and bonded anchorage principles. The system is designed to provide ground support across varying operating conditions.

HX-Bolt provides high-capacity dynamic support immediately after mechanical installation without requiring resin or grout. Its yielding hollow bar allows resin or grout injection when additional anchorage or long-term corrosion protection is required, while absorbing rock displacement and dynamic energy while maintaining load-bearing capacity.

The system can be installed using bolters or drill rigs. Where encapsulation is required, the friction anchor acts as a containment mechanism during resin or grout injection, helping limit material migration into fractures and voids. Normet said this can reduce unnecessary injection-material consumption and improve encapsulation effectiveness.

HX-Bolt is designed for competent rock, highly fractured ground, squeezing conditions and seismically active environments. The system combines primary and secondary support functions, allowing operators to determine where encapsulation is required while using the same reinforcement system across applications.

“Underground operations are under constant pressure to improve safety and productivity while managing increasingly challenging ground conditions,” said Rual Abreu, Global Director, Rock Reinforcement at Normet.

“HX-Bolt was developed to combine the best attributes of mechanical and bonded anchorage in a single support system. It delivers dynamic support immediately after installation and can subsequently be encapsulated to establish robust, long-term reinforcement,” Abreu said.

Normet said the launch expands its rock reinforcement portfolio, which includes dynamic bolts, cable bolts, self-drilling anchors and conventional reinforcement solutions for underground mining and tunnelling.