Abstract: A weatherable ferrite agglomerate is prepared by establishing compacted or other coherent bodies consisting of a mixture of fine particles of lime and of iron oxide, and heating the bodies, in a reducing atmosphere, at a suitable temperature up to about 2100.degree. F; under these circumstances, the lime and iron oxide react to form dicalcium ferrite, yeilding agglomerate bodies that are useful for furnace feed, as for a blast furnace. The iron oxide may conveniently consist of one or more waste oxides from iron and steel making operations, and the lime can be supplied as limestone, with a preliminary heating of the mixture, before or after forming the coherent bodies, to calcine the stone to lime. The agglomerate is advantageous in providing a way of using waste iron values and of supplying lime as such, for furnace operations, with practicality because of the weatherability which ordinary (calcined) lime does not have, while avoiding difficulties of making sintered bodies or the like.