Three new rare earth metal-rich compounds, Gd 6 MTe 2 (M=Co, Ni) and Er 6 RuTe 2 , were synthesized in direct reactions between the R, R 3 M, and R 2 Te 3 (R=Gd, Er, M=Co, Ni, Ru). These materials all adopt the same Zr 6 CoAl 2 structure type with space group P62m (No. 189, Z=1). Single crystal structures of Gd 6 CoTe 2 and Er 6 RuTe 2 were determined and lattice parameters are a=b=8.3799(5), c=3.9801(4) A, and a=b=8.1473(5) A, c=3.9962(4) A, respectively. Gd 6 NiTe 2 was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction; lattice parameters are a=b=8.412(2), c=3.9577(9) A. Metal-metal bonding correlations were analyzed using the empirical Pauling bond order concept.