A solution chemical route to cobalt-coated WC-powder is described that allows for the preparation of WC-Co powders and compacts having a carbon content very close to the desired carbon content even under an inert atmosphere. The microstructural homogeneity in the sintered WC-Co composites when using the Co-coated grains was found to be superior as compared with conventionally mill-mixed powders, and the structural changes in the individual WC-grains were found to be much smaller, which is ascribed mainly to the fact that the coated grains do not require a grinding step leading to the formation of a tail of smaller WC grain sizes.