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Shaanxi Province is located in the most important molybdenum ore district in the world, but a lot of molybdenum tailings have been released, polluting the environment and wasting resources seriously. Taking eleven tailing samples collected at the main molybdenum tailings ponds in Shaanxi Province as the research object, the physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics were studied through scanning electron microscope, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, and others. The ecological risk and utilization potential of molybdenum tailings were investigated through leaching test, geo-accumulation index, potential ecological risk assessment, and other methods. The results demonstrated that the main chemical and mineralogical composition of various molybdenum tailings in Shaanxi Province is similar, and the predominant mineral composition is muscovite, quartz, microcline, and calcite. The potential ecological risk of heavy metals in six molybdenum tailings is high, while Pb and Cd are the main pollution risk elements. Molybdenum tailings contain considerable amounts of critical minerals with huge potential economic value, and molybdenum tailings with high environmental hazards could be converted into a possible source for critical minerals by recovering the critical minerals and repurposing the secondary tailings as an additive or cement substitute. This study provides an innovative idea for the pollution treatment of molybdenum tailings and indicates the prospect of molybdenum tailings as a secondary source for critical minerals., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)