Oil and natural gas are the main energy sources in the world today and the foundation industry that affects national economy and social development. As a major oil and gas consuming country, China’s oil and gas extraction has been increasing in recent years, resulting in the generation of large amounts of water-based drilling mud. Water-based drilling mud has complex components and great harm, so the efficient resource utilization still faces huge challenges. The mud contains rich silicon and aluminum species, and transforming it into high-value ZSM-5 zeolite is a hot research topic. However, the silicon and aluminum components in the mud are usually inert, so the key to the resource utilization is to convert the inert natural minerals into highly reactive silicon and aluminum species. This study systematically investigated the activation methods such as acid-alkali activation at room temperature using water-based drilling mud as raw material. The results showed that the alkaline melting method could effectively activate the inert components in the mud, and the obtained precursors could successfully synthesize high-purity ZSM-5 zeolites with different Si/Al ratios (15, 25, 60, respectively).