The morphology and magnetic properties of bulk and ball - milled Ho(Ni0.5Co0.5)3 intermetallic compounds were studied. The presence of PuNi3 type of crystal phase was confirmed in crystalline as well as powdered samples. The emergence of a partly amorphous phase was confirmed at the end of pulverization. The applying of the high energy ball - milling (HEBM) method for various grinding time is reflected in the fabrication of nanostructured flakes with a thickness of less than 100 nm. The formation of agglomerates for the prolonged pulverization was demonstrated. The influence of the increased milling time for the final size of particles and crystallites was confirmed by a variety of complementary measurement methods. Furthermore, the enhanced coercivity (H-C), non-linear dependence of remanence (M-R) and emergence of M-R/M-S ratio higher than 0.5 driven by HEBM was evidenced. A quantitative analysis of XPS spectra indicates the formation of Ni/Co oxides on the nanoflakes surface, which was subsequently reduced over ion etching. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.