The oxidation behaviour of tungsten and molybdenum based, chromia-forming alloys prepared by powder sintering activated with group VIII metals has been investigated. The influences of the alloy composition, nature of the sintering agent and oxidation temperature have been studied. A good oxidation resistance is observed with palladium as sintering agent. This metal is rejected at the grain boundaries and allows a fast diffusion of chromium to the metal-oxide interface. Contrary to palladium, nickel leads to a catastrophic oxidation of the sample. The formation of a two-phase interface enriched in nickel leads to a non-protective oxide layer constituted with Cr2O3 and NiWO4. Catastrophic oxidation is observed when the refractory metals are oxidised into volatile oxides, i.e. in the case of the alloys with a high molybdenum content. Contrary to molybdenum, a high tungsten level leads to high oxidation resistance, even at temperature as high as 1300degreesC. In this latter case, alloys are two-phase: this result has led to the investigation of the ternary section of the Cr-Mo-W system at 1300degreesC. (C) 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers.