A huge amount of sand-washing slurry is generally generated from construction sites and plants, and its improper accumulation can pose a major threat to the ecology and the environment. To conquer these problems, the sand-washing slurry is reused as the raw materials to prepare artificial ceramsite based on cold-bonded methods. The microscale properties of sand-washing slurry based cold-bonded ceramsite are systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray microcomputed tomography (XCT) to understand the microstructural evolution and reaction mechanism of this new type of artificial ceramsite. In addition, the engineering properties of artificial ceramsite including compressive strength, density, and water absorption capacity are evaluated according to existing standards and codes, to understand whether this new type of artificial ceramsite can fulfil the application in real engineering project.