A consolidated material, comprising: coated particles in a matrix, said coated particles comprising a core material having at least two layers coated thereon and consisting essentially of at least one of AlB 2, Al 4 C 3, AlN, Al 2 O 3, AlMgB 14, B 4 C, cubic boron nitride (cBN), hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), CrB 2, Cr 3 C 2, Cr 2 O 3, diamond, HfB 2, HfC, HfN, Hf(C,N), MoB 2, Mo 2 B 5, Mo 2 C, MoS 2, MoSi 2, NbB 2, NbC, NbN, Nb(C,N), SiB 4, SiB 6, SiC, Si 3 N 4, SiAlCB, TaB 2, TaC, TaN, Ta(C,N), TiB 2, TiC, TiN, Ti(C,N), VB 2, VC, VN, V(C,N), WB, WB 2, W 2 B 5, WC, W 2 C, WS 2, ZrB 2, ZrC, ZrN, Zr(C,N), ZrO 2, and mixtures and alloys thereof; wherein the at least two layers on the core material comprises at least one intermediate layer which comprises a material different from said core material and has a fracture toughness higher than said core material; and an outer layer on the at least one intermediate layer, said outer layer comprising at least one of Fe, Co and Ni; wherein said matrix comprises a mixture of first particles comprising W or WC with second particles comprising Co, and/or said matrix comprises an alloy of Co with W and/or WC, Co being present in said matrix in an amount ranging from greater than 0 to 20 weight %; wherein an interparticle distance between adjacent coated particles in said matrix ranges from 2 to 20 times a base interparticle distance, wherein said base interparticle distance is the distance between central portions of adjacent coated particles in the absence of said matrix. coated particles in a matrix, said coated particles comprising a core material having at least two layers coated thereon and consisting essentially of at least one of AlB 2, Al 4 C 3, AlN, Al 2 O 3, AlMgB 14, B 4 C, cubic boron nitride (cBN), hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), CrB 2, Cr 3 C 2, Cr 2 O 3, diamond, HfB 2, HfC, HfN, Hf(C,N), MoB 2, Mo 2 B 5, Mo 2 C, MoS 2, MoSi 2, NbB 2, NbC, NbN, Nb(C,N), SiB 4, SiB 6, SiC, Si 3 N 4, SiAlCB, TaB 2, TaC, TaN, Ta(C,N), TiB 2, TiC, TiN, Ti(C,N), VB 2, VC, VN, V(C,N), WB, WB 2, W 2 B 5, WC, W 2 C, WS 2, ZrB 2, ZrC, ZrN, Zr(C,N), ZrO 2, and mixtures and alloys thereof; wherein the at least two layers on the core material comprises at least one intermediate layer which comprises a material different from said core material and has a fracture toughness higher than said core material; and an outer layer on the at least one intermediate layer, said outer layer comprising at least one of Fe, Co and Ni; a core material having at least two layers coated thereon and consisting essentially of at least one of AlB 2, Al 4 C 3, AlN, Al 2 O 3, AlMgB 14, B 4 C, cubic boron nitride (cBN), hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), CrB 2, Cr 3 C 2, Cr 2 O 3, diamond, HfB 2, HfC, HfN, Hf(C,N), MoB 2, Mo 2 B 5, Mo 2 C, MoS 2, MoSi 2, NbB 2, NbC, NbN, Nb(C,N), SiB 4, SiB 6, SiC, Si 3 N 4, SiAlCB, TaB 2, TaC, TaN, Ta(C,N), TiB 2, TiC, TiN, Ti(C,N), VB 2, VC, VN, V(C,N), WB, WB 2, W 2 B 5, WC, W 2 C, WS 2, ZrB 2, ZrC, ZrN, Zr(C,N), ZrO 2, and mixtures and alloys thereof; wherein the at least two layers on the core material comprises at least one intermediate layer which comprises a material different from said core material and has a fracture toughness higher than said core material; and an outer layer on the at least one intermediate layer, said outer layer comprising at least one of Fe, Co and Ni; wherein said matrix comprises a mixture of first particles comprising W or WC with second particles comprising Co, and/or said matrix comprises an alloy of Co with W and/or WC, Co being present in said matrix in an amount ranging from greater than 0 to 20 weight %;