When the powder mixture of Zr/B/C = 2:2:1 was mechanically activated (MA) by ball milling and then exposed to air, it spontaneously self-ignited and the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) occurred to form ZrB2 and ZrC. The ZrB2-ZrC composite was obtained from this powder by spark plasma sintering (SPS) at 1800 degreesC and exhibited fine, homogeneous microstructure and the mechanical properties of Vickers hardness of 17.8 GPa and fracture toughness of 3.8 MPa m(1/2). (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.