Abstract: In response to the challenges of large amount of low silicon iron tailings and great difficulty in utilization, light weight sintered ceramsite was prepared using the low silicon iron tailings from Yangjiawan tailings pond as the main raw material, which was combined with copper tailings and pulverized coal commercially available. The effects of ingredient ratio, mass ratio of water and material, particle size, sintering conditions and other factors on the properties of ceramsite were investigated in details. The results showed that the lightweight ceramsite possessed a bulk density of 873.2 kg/m³, cylinder pressure strength of 5.13 MPa and water absorption of 7.65% in 1 h, under the condition of a mass ratio of m(iron tailings)∶m(copper tailings)∶m(coal powder) = 8∶1∶1 (i.e. 80% of iron tailings), water to material ratio of 1∶5, sintering temperature of 1120 ℃, and sintering time of 20 min. According to the morphology, phase and thermogravimetric analyses of ceramsite, diopside with dense network structure was formed and could improve the pressure of ceramsite during the sintering process. It therefore provides a novel way for the resource utilization of low silicon iron tailings.