Abstract: This invention relates to intimate mixtures of ceramic materials and metals, usually referred to as cermets. A cermet of the invention comprises a first phase of ceramic particles and a second phase of a metallic material wherein at least a major proportion of the particles have their surfaces treated with an additive which forms a material capable of bonding together the materials of the first and second phase. The metallic phase may be gold, silver or a platinum group metal. The ceramic phase may be a refractory oxide of alumina and the additive is derived from at least one of the metals yttrium, aluminium, titanium, vanadium, chromium and nickel.The cermet materials of this invention are particularly useful in the manufacture of erosion resistant components used in glass making operations and in the electrical industry.