Superconducting (SC) and mechanical properties of spark plasma (or SPS) produced MgB 2 -based materials allow their efficient applications in fault current limiters, superconducting electromotors, pumps, generators, magnetic bearings, etc. The synthesized from Mg and B at 50 MPa, 1050 °C for 30 min material has a density of 2.52 g/cm 3, critical current density, j c = 7.1·10 5 A/cm 2 at 10 K , 5.4·10 5 A/cm 2 at 20 K, and 9·10 4 A/cm 2 at 35 K in zero magnetic field; at 20 K its field of irreversibility B irr(20)=7 T and upper critical field B c2(20)=11 T; microhardness H V=10.5 GPa and fracture toughness K 1C =1.7 MPa·m 1/2 at 4.9 N-load. SPS-manufactured in- situ MgB 2- based materials usually have somewhat higher j c than sintered ex-situ. The pressure variations from 16 to 96 MPa during the SPS-process did not affect material SC characteristics significantly; the j c at 10-20 K was slightly higher and the material density was higher by 11%, when pressures of 50-96 MPa were used. The structure of SPS-produced MgB 2 material contains Mg-B-O inclusions and inclusions of higher borides (of compositions near MgB 4, MgB 7, MgB 12, MgB 17, MgB 20), which can be pinning centers. The presence of higher borides in the MgB 2 structure can be revealed by the SEM and Raman spectroscopy.