The invention relates to hard-metal body comprising a hard-metal, the hard-metal comprising tungsten carbide grains and metal binder comprising cobalt having a concentration of tungsten dissolved therein, the body comprising a surface region adjacent a surface and a core region remote from the surface, the surface region and the core region being contiguous with each other; the mean binder fraction of the core region being greater than that of the surface region; the mean carbon concentration within the binder being higher in the surface region than in the core region; to tools comprising same and methods of making same.