Abstract: One of the key processes of the resource appraisement is to ascertain and evaluate the criterion of evaluation parameters. It is manifested by the first nationwide oil shale resource appraisement that the key parameters for the oil shale quality assessment are mainly concerned with oil yield(ω), desiccationbased ash productivity(A^g）, lower thermal value(Q^g_DW） and whole sulphur percentage(S^g_Q). The key parameters of the oil shale resource appraisement consist of orebed recoverable thickness(H), orebody effective area(S), orebody weight(D) and orebody resource types, etc. Different parameters have various meanings and evaluation criterions. With respect to characterizing the different geological features of the single project control point, massive oil shale rock or single layer oil shale, etc., there are certain discrepancies in the methods of evaluating various parameters and calculating formulas as well. Different parameters and calculating methods should be selected according to the various purposes during the estimation of the oil shale resources.

Key words: oil shale, resource appraisement, the key parameter, evaluation criterion, evaluating methods