Cordierite-based glass-ceramics have been developed using gold tailings as one of the starting raw materials. The crystallization behaviour of gold tailings based glass samples was investigated by DTA, XRD, and SEM. On the basis of DTA analysis, nucleation experiments were carried out at 820° C for 2h and crystallization experiments were performed at 1010° C for 2h. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the major phase of the synthesized glass-ceramics was cordierite along with a trace of iron cordierite. The properties of the synthesized cordierite-based glass-ceramics compared well with the values of industrial cordierite. Results indicate an interesting potential for gold tailings to produce useful materials. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.