Cemented carbides containing hexagonal molybdenum

A composition of material comprising sintered carbide-binder metal alloys, in which the carbide comprises a hexagonal monocarbide phase which is a solid solution of tungsten monocarbide and molybdenum monocarbide of stoichiometric composition containing between 10 and 100 mole percent molybdenum carbide and a cubic carbide phase selected from the group consisting of titanium carbide, tantalum carbide, vanadium carbide, niobium carbide and hafnium carbide, with the cubic carbide comprising up to 85 weight percent of the total carbide phase, and in which the binder is selected from the iron group and from the additional group consisting of molybdenum, tungsten, chromium, copper, silver and aluminum, with the iron group comprising between 3 and 50 weight percent of the composition and the additional group comprising between 0 and 10 weight percent of the composition.