J-Lok Resins Australia has launched a new “5-star” water-based resin product, and director Peter Roberts wants to raise awareness of the difference between the water-based resins and oil-based cartridges available.

“I perceive there is a general confusion about the products which are coming into the market,” he told International Longwall News.

While he acknowledges the industry commonly refers to the resins being either “oil-based” or “water-based”, he said the difference is about the base used in the catalyst that sets the resins.

“So we should really be talking about ‘resins using a water-based catalyst’ and ‘resins using an oil-based catalyst’.”

While the use of the latter is established in Australia, J-Lok director Max Hahn told ILN 100% of the South African market used the water-based catalyst product, along with most underground operations in the United States.

South African Hahn has been involved with resin manufacturing for decades and said the decision in South Africa to go purely with water-based catalysts was made back in the early 1980s.

On why the water-based catalyst range has not been taken up in Australia, Hahn said there never was any problem performance-wise with the oil-based catalyst resins.

But Roberts made the point that the water-based catalyst resins are likely to have more innovation due to their wider use worldwide.

“Resins using a water-based catalyst are able to tap into the technological developments being achieved elsewhere in the world.

“This provides a greater base for improving performance and efficiency.”

While the use of water-based catalyst resins is established in South Africa and the US, Roberts believes they are also the dominant products used in Europe and Canada.

A number of longwall mines in Australia are currently trialling J-Lok’s oil-based and water-based catalyst products, but Roberts did not provide details of which operations were involved.

He said there had been no negative feedback.

Roberts said J-Lok’s new 5-star product range matched the new technology being brought to the marketplace.

J-Lok Resins Australia is a joint venture between Frank Calandra of the US and South Africa’s Strata Bolt Resins. Frank Calandra owns Jennmar Australia, which has been involved in supplying ground support products in Australia since 1997.