Method of making a composite diamond body

Method of producing a composite diamond body comprising the steps of:

• providing powders of diamond particles,
• providing powder(s) forming a binder phase comprising cobalt powder,
• subjecting the powders of diamond particles and powder(s) forming a binder phase comprising cobalt powder to a pressing and sintering operation, wherein the cobalt powder has a grain size, FSSS, of from about 0.2 to about 2.9 μm and comprises mainly cobalt having an fcc-structure with a peak height ratio Co-fcc(200)/Co-hcp(101) greater than or equal to about ½, where the peak height is measured between a baseline and a peak height maximum in an XRD pattern for the cobalt powder determined by XRD using a 2θ/θ focusing geometry and Cu—Kα radiation.