The purpose of this study is to investigate the mineralogical character of the cements that are responsible for the increased strength of the spent oil shale. Several techniques to identify the nature of the cementing agents have been used in this study. X-ray diffraction was used to identify mineral dissolution and formation; scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the cementing agents; energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) was used to provide information on the elemental composition of both the bulk material and the cementing agents; and differential thermal analyses and thermogravimetric analyses were used to document the presence of suspected minerals that may be involved in formation of the cementing material.