To provide a method for operating a smelting reduction furnace with which chromium-containing molten metal is produced by arranging tuyeres for blowing high temperature oxygen-enriched air into a filling layer of carbon- base solid reducing agent in at least the upper and the lower two-steps, and injecting powdery and granular metallic oxide-containing raw material from at least the upper step of the tuyere.

The chromium-containing bulky raw material is formed by mixing the powdery chromium ore and the metallic oxide powdery material containing metal component of the above molten metal, and this chromium- containing bulky raw material is charged from the furnace top of the above smelting reduction furnace. Further, it is suitable that the above molten metal is molten iron melting the iron and the above metallic oxide powdery material is the powdery material containing iron oxide.