The exposure of cemented carbides to corrosive environments is generally associated with a reduction of the performance and life - time of tools and components. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the effects of the carbide mean grain size on the corro sion damage induced on cemented carbides immersed in a mine water stirred solution. In doing so, the corrosion resistance of two WC - 1 5 % wt. Co cemented carbides having different mean grain sizes was investigated . T he detrimental effect of corrosion damage on the strength of cemented carbides was evaluated. R esults point out that the medium grain - sized hardmetals exhibit better strength retention than the ultrafine ones . This enhanced damage tolerance to corrosion evidenced for the medium grain - sized cemented carbide may be explained on the basis of higher fracture toughness and blunted corrosion pits. In addition, a detailed characterization of corrosion damage is provided by means of the 3D FIB/FESEM tomography technique