There has been a growing interest in the use of cost-effective materials to remove heavy metals from wastewater. In this study, retorted shale, a solid residue of the thermal transformation of oil shale, was characterized with the objective of preparing heavy metal adsorbents. The fine residue was characterized using different techniques including thermogravimetric analyses, BET, FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM. Batch adsorption studies in wastewater were performed. The SRTXRF technique was used to determine element concentration. Removal was approximately 50–70% for Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn and > 90% for Hg and Pb. Thus, retorted shale can be used as an efficient adsorbent for heavy metal removal from wastewater