The article deals with the study of the structure and properties of electric spark coatings of AlB$_{12}$–50 wt.% Al aluminium-matrix composite electrode material on D1 aluminium alloy. Fundamental possibility of such coatings obtaining is estimated by theoretical calculation of Palatnik’s criterion (0.59). Thermal conductivity coefficient and heat capacity of the composite are calculated or determined from an experiment. Mass transfer kinetics at electric spark alloying (ESA) is studied. Considering rather high values of the cathode mass gain, the coating applied in 6 modes ($E$ = 2.52 J, $\tau$ = 700 $\mu$s, ALIER-52 setup) is selected for further research. The thickness ($h$ = 380 $\mu$m), microhardness ($H_{\mu}$ = 1.86 GPa, PMT-3 tester, $P$ = 0.05 N) and wear at dry friction (13.7 mg/(km$\cdot$cm$^{2}$), MT-68 friction machine, the pin-on-disk scheme, $V$ = 4 m/s, $P$ = 0.2 MPa, friction path $S$ = 3 km) are determined for the coating. Phase composition of the coating is studied with DRON-3M diffractometer and elemental X-ray spectrum analysis of the surface and cross-section is carried out using a JEOL JSM-6490 LV scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis and reflected electron diffraction system. The following phases namely Al, Al$_2$O$_3$, small quantity of B, B$_2$O$_3$, Fe$_2$O$_3$, AlFeO$_3$, AlB$_2$ and AlB$_{10}$ are revealed by X-ray analysis in the coating. The Al content (reaching 89.92 wt.% in certain zones) is more than the other phases content. This affects the coating strength under dry friction condition. The absence of the AlB$_{12}$ phase is noteworthy. It can be explained by thermo-oxidative destruction of aluminium dodecaboride under severe conditions of ESA.