The invention belongs to the field of building materials, and specifically relates to a method of preparing ceramsite by sintering industrial waste residue of barren coal gangue as raw materials. The technical scheme provided by the invention is as follows: the method comprises the following steps: forming a mixed material by barren coal gangue and phyllite; adding water glass and water; placing for 48 hours under a sealed condition to obtain an aged material; preparing the aged material to raw material balls with diameter of 5-15mm; placing the raw material balls in a drying box, and drying for 3-6 hours at 106 DEG C; placing in an electric furnace after drying; firstly, insulating for 15-25 minutes at 120-600 DEG C; then, insulating for 10-15 minutes at 600-1250 DEG C to prepare the barren coal gangue ceramsite. The barren coal gangue ceramsite prepared by the method provided by the invention is light in weight, high in strength, low in heat conductivity coefficient and low in water absorption rate, and the performance of the ceramsite meets the standard of ceramsite for buildings, thereby not only fully recycling heat energy resources in coal gangue, but also effectively improving the additional value of coal gangue products. The method is a novel coal gangue comprehensive utilization method which has good popularization and application values.