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High-strength and low-weight composite materials or cermets have been prepared by reinforcing an aluminium-base matrix with boron carbide particles or with boron carbide-coated boron fibres [1-3]. In the former case boron carbide (B4C) is the strengthening agent, whereas in the latter the role of B4C coating is to protect the fibres against a too severe attack by aluminium during processing or use of the composites. Recently B4C-coated carbon fibres have been produced on a pilot plant in our laboratory [4, 5]. A general study is now in progress with the aim of employing these treated fibres for the manufacture of aluminium-base matrix composites. The development of such materials and improvement of their performances require, however, a thorough understanding of the metal-carbide interface chemistry and, primarily, a detailed description of the phases likely to be formed by chemical reaction in the A1-BC …