A drill bit formed of a binder comprising a copper nickel manganese alloy is disclosed. The binder has an increased content of manganese, which improves the strength and toughness of the drill bit. Manganese forms a solid solution with copper in the alloy, as well as forming an intermetallic with the nickel constituent. The formation of the MnNi inter-metallic also serves to improve the erosion resistance of the binder alloy and thus the overall erosion resistance of the MMC.
