According to company officials, the unit was designed specifically for roof bolting, and the percussive drill is ideal for use in hard strata drilling to create holes between 1 1/8 inch (28mm) and 1 3/4in (44mm) in diameter.

Additionally, the HV-32 unit measures only 20 ¼ inches (51.4cm), so the use of longer drill steels in confined areas is possible.

Fletcher said the new rock drill was available on its new bolters and in some cases it could be retrofitted to existing Fletcher bolting machines.

In January, the supplier announced its domestic and global demand justified the addition of more production space to its Huntington headquarters.

Fletcher executive vice president Greg Hinshaw said the additional space, which is now in use, will be used for the company’s boom exchange program as well as for the construction of new booms for international manufacturing.

The facility also has new production bays, a paint booth and loading dock.

“This facility was designed to improve our efficiency in assembly of roof drill booms, face drill booms, scaler booms, both new and rebuilt,” company spokesperson Gary Lockney said in an interview with ILN.

“Improved efficiency in this area supports higher production in our final machine assembly and increased capacity.”