Production of metals and their alloys

A method for producing powdered metallic products comprising the steps of:

• forming a stream of aluminum subchloride vapor at a temperature of at least about 1000° C. and a pressure of at least 0.1 atmosphere;
• mixing an oxide reactant, which may include titanium halide, with the aluminum subchloride vapor stream;
• reacting the aluminum subchloride with the oxide and/or halide reactant to reduce the reactant to form a solid metallic powder product and to form aluminum trichloride vapor, and;
• separating the aluminum trichloride vapor from the solid metallic product at a temperature of at learnt about 300° C.;
• wherein said oxide reactant comprises finely divided iron oxide, cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, boron oxide or mixtures thereof, and wherein said solid metallic powder product comprises aluminum oxide powder together with aluminum-based and/or titanium-based metallic powder and a reduced metal of said oxide reactant.