ABSTRACT: Cable bolts were introduced to the coal mining industry in the early 1980’s mainly for roadway reinforcement as a secondary means of support. Their application is dictated by the nature of the stratification, ground stress conditions and the size of the opening. Double shearing tests were carried out on the 28 mm hollow strand Jennmar “TG” cable bolt, two tests were conducted to evaluate the shearing characteristics of the bolt and to gain a better understanding of the shearing behaviour of the cable. The first test was limited by a 50 mm travel on the testing machine and produced a shear load of 900 kN at the maximum 50 mm displacement, with axial load generated on the cable bolt reaching 238 kN. In the second test the machine travel was increased to 75 mm, cable failure due to shear loading was achieved at 1354 kN load and a vertical displacement of 59 mm, with cable axial load in the order of 385 kN. Analysis of the failure mode and loads achieved indicate that the cable the cables’ strand failure occurred in tension and not in shear. All strand failures were of cone and cup failure and necking which is a characteristic of the steel failure in tension (see Figure). This is expected as the concrete was, in general, more deformable and softer than steel. This was also evident from the heavily crushed zone in the vicinity of the sheared planes. If the cable strands were realistically sheared, then the shearing load of the cable would be around 2/3 or 70% of the tensile load, which is based on the past tests of the ordinary 24 mm diameter steel bolts using the conventional guillotine shearing test, and is common knowledge on steel strength properties. It was concluded that maximum load per strand was in the order of 6.3 t.