The presence of water and oxygen are some of the important factors influencing the oxidation rate of sulfide minerals within overburden dumps. In the overburden dumps, the availability of water and oxygen is strongly controlled by the physical structure of the dump, as well as the surface climate and geochemical reaction within the dump. In this study, made up of a series of field investigations, physical and geochemical laboratory characterizations were conducted in order to evaluate the internal physical structure and geochemical characteristics of coal mine overburden dumps. As the result of a series of analysis, alternate geochemical characteristics may control the acidification-neutralization reaction of infiltrated water, the precipitation of secondary minerals and may subsequently determine the quality of the overburden dump drainage. The internal structure formed and the spatial heterogeneity of geochemical characteristics in the overburden dumps controls the acid drainage inhibition process within the dumps.