Plasma transferred are (PTA) is now currently used for reclamation of worn materials or to provide wear or corrosion resistant coatings welded to the base material. Instead of injecting the powder in the plasma and the molten pool created at the coated surface, a tape casting process was used to obtain an adherent powder layer of NiCu (70:30) on the material surface. Tapes deposited on cast iron substrates exhibited a high electrical resistance (a few G Ohm). Thus, their PTA treatment has been carried out by starting the electrical are on the metallic cast iron substrates. The: process control by charge coupled device (CCD) camera showed that the NiCu particles fell in the melting pool created at the substrate surface. The study of the obtained alloy compositions has shown the drastic influence of the initial binder concentration in the tape. Some NiCu tapes were sintered on their substrate at 1100 degreesC for 4 h under an inert atmosphere. The resulting coatings, characterized by a low electrical resistance (a few Ohm), and a good adhesion to the substrate, were then treated by PTA. The surfacing alloy properties were compared to those obtained without heat treatment.