Bauxite was substituted with spent catalysts for clinker preparation. Three different clinkers were prepared: one with bauxite as a reference, one with spent alumina catalyst and another with reduced fluid cracking catalyst. Powder X-ray diffraction technique, thermal analysis and scanning electron microscope were used to characterize each clinker sample. Rietveld refinement shows that, in all clinkers prepared, alite was formed with hexagonal lattice and monoclinic belite has higher unit cell volume compared to the known beta-Ca2SiO4. The physical and mechanical properties (specific area, setting time, heat of hydration, soundness and compressive strength) of the cement samples were studied. The results show that substitution of bauxite by spent catalysts gave close results in terms of chemical composition, physical and mechanical properties of the Portland clinker. Also it shows the spent catalysts do not affect the quality of the prepared cement. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.