A process for providing cast iron or semi steel and hydrogen rich reusable reducing gas by using a high pressure refractory lined shaft furnace having an operative top zone, an operative bottom zone, and an operative middle zone said high pressure refractory lined shaft furnace operating at a pressure between 5 and 50 kg/cm 2 g, said process comprising: (i) feeding iron ore from an inlet provided in the operative top zone along with slag producing material; (ii) gasifying a carbonaceous material in a separate refractory lined gasifier, operated at a pressure between 5 and 50 bar, using preheated oxygen, to provide reducing gas at a temperature of at least 1400 °C; (iii) feeding in parts the reducing gas to the high pressure shaft furnace through tuyeres (170, 172) provided at the operative bottom zone; (iv) smelting the iron ore and slag material by using the reducing gas in the high pressure shaft furnace, to provide molten iron and molten slag; (v) controlling and maintaining the temperature between 1400 and 1700 °C, required for iron ore reduction and melting in the operative bottom zone of the high pressure shaft furnace during the operation; (vi) collecting molten iron and molten slag in the operative bottom zone; (vii) discharging molten iron and molten slag from the operative bottom zone; (viii) discharging spent reducing gas from the operative top zone into a gas cleaning unit; (ix) extracting dust and sulfur from the spent reducing gas in the gas cleaning unit to provide a purified spent reducing gas; and (x) passing the purified spent reducing gas through a shift catalyst selected from the group consisting of copper, platinum, zinc, aluminium, iron and chromium in the presence of steam to provide hydrogen-rich reusable reducing gas, the method characterized by (ix) feeding excess oxygen through the tuyere at the operative bottom zone of the high pressure shaft furnace to produce semi steel. (i) feeding iron ore from an inlet provided in the operative top zone along with slag producing material; (ii) gasifying a carbonaceous material in a separate refractory lined gasifier, operated at a pressure between 5 and 50 bar, using preheated oxygen, to provide reducing gas at a temperature of at least 1400 °C; (iii) feeding in parts the reducing gas to the high pressure shaft furnace through tuyeres (170, 172) provided at the operative bottom zone; (iv) smelting the iron ore and slag material by using the reducing gas in the high pressure shaft furnace, to provide molten iron and molten slag; (v) controlling and maintaining the temperature between 1400 and 1700 °C, required for iron ore reduction and melting in the operative bottom zone of the high pressure shaft furnace during the operation; (vi) collecting molten iron and molten slag in the operative bottom zone; (vii) discharging molten iron and molten slag from the operative bottom zone; (viii) discharging spent reducing gas from the operative top zone into a gas cleaning unit; (ix) extracting dust and sulfur from the spent reducing gas in the gas cleaning unit to provide a purified spent reducing gas; and (x) passing the purified spent reducing gas through a shift catalyst selected from the group consisting of copper, platinum, zinc, aluminium, iron and chromium in the presence of steam to provide hydrogen-rich reusable reducing gas, the method characterized by (ix) feeding excess oxygen through the tuyere at the operative bottom zone of the high pressure shaft furnace to produce semi steel.