Abstract: This invention relates to special ferromanganese type master-alloys, such as normally are added to steels during the process of melting and/or deoxidation, except that in the new master-alloy substantial amounts of zirconium and boron are added to make the new material especially suitable as an addition for boron in various boron-containing steels.A typical aim composition for the new Fe-Mn-Zr-B master-alloy would be about 20% Fe, about 40% Mn, about 35% Zr, about 2.5% B, about 2.0% C, and the balance residual elements with preferably not more than about 0.5% Al. It can be noted that the ratio of the Zr to the B contents is about 14:1. This means that for a steel addition of 0.0025% B, an amount of 0.035% Zr would be available in the steel to enhance the hardenability contribution of the B to the steel and to prevent "fading" of the boron during the heating operations.