To provide a method, in which iron oxide is efficiently reduced to metallic iron at the time of obtaining the metallic iron by heating and reducing the iron oxide of iron ore, etc., together with carbonaceous reducing agent of carbonaceous material, etc., and also, the high purity metallic iron can efficiently be produced as molten iron by melting and smoothly separating slag component mixed as gangue component, etc., in the iron oxide source of the iron ore, etc.

At the time of producing the metallic iron by heating and reducing the formed body of iron oxide containing the carbonaceous reducing agent, the formed body is formed as a long formed body 5 and the metallic iron outer shell is produced and grown by heating and reducing while shifting the plural lines of long formed bodies in the down-sloping direction, and the reduction is progressed until the iron oxide does not substantially exist. Further, the slag is produced in the inner part of the formed body 5, and after melting the formed body by further heating, the formed body is separated into the molten slag S and the molten iron F.