Abstract: A sinterable mixture comprising iron-containing materials and solid fuel is sintered on a sintering machine; to decrease the rate at which exhaust gas is to be removed and to produce a desirable sinter, a part of the exhaust gas is enriched to an oxygen content of up to 24% by the addition of higher-oxygen gases and is then recirculated as a recycle gas, and exhaust gas is removed as a tail gas from the process only at a rate which corresponds to the rate of the gas which is formed during the sintering process plus the rate of the gas added for enriching plus the rate of inleaked air which has infiltrated from the outside minus the rate of oxygen consumption.

Abstract: To produce smeltable briquets, steel-works dusts containing more that 15% metallic iron are heated in an indirectly heated rotary kiln to a briquetting temperature in excess of 500.degree. C. under an atmosphere which is inert to the metallic iron. The heated dusts are briquetted in the briquetting roll press under an inert atmosphere and under a roll pressure from 60 to 150 kN/cm roll width. The hot briquets are separated from the fines under an inert atmosphere and are air-cooled to a temperature below 130.degree. C. The fines are recycled to the rotary kiln.