The total bauxite reserves of China are about 3.7 billion tons, however the principal and the first-class bauxite reserves account for only about 20%. A large number of coal gangue was accumulated on the surface of earth, which not only encroaches land but also pollutes the environment. In this study, low-grade bauxite with alumina content of 53.18 wt.% originating from Shanxi Yangquan and coal gangue with alumina content of 38.07 wt.% originating from Shanxi Datong were used to synthesize mullite materials. Bauxite and gangue were mixed by the ratio of 1 to 1. The ingredients were prepared according to the alumina content of 45.63 wt.% and 70 wt.%, by adding a certain amount of industrial alumina, respectively. The samples were sintered at 1350°C to 1600°C after being milled, dried and formed. The influence of alumina content and sintering temperature on the phase, microscopic morphology and properties of samples were discussed. The results show that, the main phases of the sample with the alumina content of 70 wt.% were mullite (more than 60 %) and corundum after being sintered for 4h at 1600 °C. The phenomenon of columnar mullite and granular corundum staggering had been observed. The bulk density and the bending strength of sample is 3.21 g/cm3and of 220.73 MPa respectively.
