Joule heating as a primary heating source mechanism was probed during spark plasma sintering (SPS) of pure metal powders (Fe, Ni and Cu). Resistance to electric path was estimated from voltage-current measurements obtained online during these experiments. Resistance was observed to saturate at the same value irrespective of the type of metal powder, after attaining a sintering temperature of ∼0.3Tm. This saturation in resistance is attributed primarily to the Joule heating that occurs at the graphite-foil and punch in an SPS system. © 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. All rights reserved.