Coal overburden dumps (OB dumps) span acres of land in prominent mining areas in and around the states of Orissa and Jharkhand. Consequently, it’s crucial to repurpose these existing dump sites into usable land to prevent further deforestation and damage to natural ecosystems. These dumps are highly heterogeneous, consisting of particles that exhibit wide variations in size and shape. As a result, a comprehensive analysis that accounts for soil heterogeneity is necessary. Toward this objective, the current study evaluates the suitability of an existing OB dump for supporting shallow foundations. Accordingly, a numerical assessment of a raft foundation on a coal mine overburden dump is performed in this study. The analysis is conducted after determining dump soil properties through the Standard Penetration Test (SPT) and Multichannel Analysis of Surface Wave (MASW) data available in the literature. The load-settlement behavior of the foundation, derived from the numerical study, is then utilized to determine the range of bearing pressures that align with acceptable settlement values.