Abstract: A rock stabilizer includes a metal tube with a tapered distal end and a flanged proximal end capable of being positioned within a bore in a mine wall. A slit runs substantially the entire length and indentations are formed in the outer surface along the length adjacent the slit so that grout pumped into the interior of the tube flows out of the slit and into the indentations. An expander wedge within the tube adjacent the distal end is actuatable from the proximal end after the stabilizer is installed in a bore. The wedge expands the distal end of the tube to firmly anchor the stabilizer in the bore. The expander wedge is formed of one wedge welded to the interior of the tube and a second wedge moveable toward the fixed wedge. The two wedges are temporarily maintained together in the interior of the tube before actuation.

Abstract: The prop headboard is used to support an inflatable grout bag on the head of an elongate prop. The headboard has a timber frame which presents a planar support surface suitable for supporting the inflatable grout bag. Bag-retaining flaps made of flexible fabric material extend from opposite edges of the headboard. These flaps are folded over the grout bag and serve to centralise it on the headboard and to restrain it from rolling out sideways during inflation and thereafter. The invention also concerns a prop system in which the headboard is used, and a method of supporting a hanging wall in a mine working.