Nanopowders of Ni and ZrO 2 (11nm and 90nm, respectively) were synthesized from NiO and Zr by high energy ball milling. A highly dense nanostructured 2Ni–ZrO 2 composite was consolidated at low temperature by high-frequency induction heat sintering within 2min of the mechanical synthesis of the powders (Ni–ZrO 2 ) with horizontal milled NiO+Zr powders under 500MPa pressure. This process allows very quick densification to near theoretical density and prohibits grain growth in nano-structured materials. The grain sizes of Ni and ZrO 2 in the composite were calculated. Finally, the average hardness and fracture toughness values of nanostructured 2Ni–ZrO 2 composites were investigated.