A method for smelting nickel oxide ore, in which a pellet is formed from the nickel oxide ore, and the pellet is heat-reduced to obtain an iron-nickel alloy with a nickel grade of 4% or more, the method comprising: a pellet production step for producing a pellet having a pellet size of 10 to 30 mm from the nickel oxide ore, and a reduction step for heat-reducing the resulting pellet in a smelting furnace, the pellet production step comprising mixing the nickel oxide ore with at least a carbonaceous reducing agent, the mixed amount of the carbonaceous reducing agent being adjusted so that the amount of carbon is 0.1% or more and 40% or less when the total combined value of a chemical equivalent required for reducing nickel oxide contained in the resulting pellet into nickel metal and a chemical equivalent required for reducing ferric oxide contained in said pellet into ferrous oxide and then further reducing a portion of the ferrous oxide into iron metal until the ratio of iron and nickel is 80:20 by mass in an iron-nickel alloy to be obtained is taken as 100%, and agglomerating the resulting mixture to form a pellet having a pellet size of 10 to 30 mm, and the reduction step comprising pre-covering the furnace floor of the smelting furnace with a furnace floor carbonaceous reducing agent in an amount suitable for establishing a reducing atmosphere under which a metal shell forms on the pellet during reduction heat treatment and melts at a rate such that it remains intact during discharge of a heat-reduced pellet to the outside of the furnace before charging the resulting pellet into the smelting furnace, and performing reduction heat treatment at a heating temperature of 1350°C or more and 1550°C or less with the pellet loaded onto the furnace floor carbonaceous reducing agent. a pellet production step for producing a pellet having a pellet size of 10 to 30 mm from the nickel oxide ore, and a reduction step for heat-reducing the resulting pellet in a smelting furnace, the pellet production step comprising mixing the nickel oxide ore with at least a carbonaceous reducing agent, the mixed amount of the carbonaceous reducing agent being adjusted so that the amount of carbon is 0.1% or more and 40% or less when the total combined value of a chemical equivalent required for reducing nickel oxide contained in the resulting pellet into nickel metal and a chemical equivalent required for reducing ferric oxide contained in said pellet into ferrous oxide and then further reducing a portion of the ferrous oxide into iron metal until the ratio of iron and nickel is 80:20 by mass in an iron-nickel alloy to be obtained is taken as 100%, and agglomerating the resulting mixture to form a pellet having a pellet size of 10 to 30 mm, and the reduction step comprising pre-covering the furnace floor of the smelting furnace with a furnace floor carbonaceous reducing agent in an amount suitable for establishing a reducing atmosphere under which a metal shell forms on the pellet during reduction heat treatment and melts at a rate such that it remains intact during discharge of a heat-reduced pellet to the outside of the furnace before charging the resulting pellet into the smelting furnace, and performing reduction heat treatment at a heating temperature of 1350°C or more and 1550°C or less with the pellet loaded onto the furnace floor carbonaceous reducing agent. <EOS>