A detailed characterization project was undertaken by Velan, an international industrial valve designer and manufacturer, in collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada, Boucherville, and Polytechnique Montréal. The purpose was to assess the mechanical and tribological resistances of promising ceramic coatings for hydrometallurgy applications, including a novel n-TiO-CrO blend. Hardness and shear strength were determined using microhardness indentation testers and universal tensile testing equipment. Wear resistance of the coatings under sliding wear, abrasion, and galling conditions were measured by standard pin-on-disk tests, abrasion tests, and custom-designed galling tests. The main result is that the synergy between CrO and n-TiO produced abrasion performance exceeding that of these materials alone. Also, an optimized balance between the hard and brittle CrO phases and the soft and ductile n-TiO phases resulted in higher abrasion, sliding, and galling resistance. The novel n-TiO-CrO blend is therefore considered as a promising evolution of the current TiO-CrO blend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]