This study assessed the effectiveness of humic substances in reducing the erodibility of a quarring waste material from pedra miracema mining. The quarring waste is highly erodible since it possesses a sandy texture, a clay content less than 10 per cent and an organic content close to zero. The humic substance used in the experimental program was obtained from coal waste and it was incorporated to the tailing at the following contents: 0,5 per cent, 1 per cent, 3 per cent and 5 per cent. It was also used a commercial product at 1 per cent content to evaluate the coal was performance. Erodibility was assessed through the use of degradation tests, Brazilian test and pinhole test. Additionally, in order to foster the discussions of the experimental program results, microscopy tests (both optical and electronic), cation exchange capacity and organic matter determinations were performed. The results have shown that the erodibility of the tailing can be reduced by the addition of humic substances. The higher the content the higher the reduction. It was also observed that the performance of humic substances in reducing erodibility increases with time.