The coal filter cake is a product of fine coal after floatation which has an ash content of 7-13%, water content of 30±2%, and a particle size of less than 1 mm. The ash content was measured by the intensity of the single backscattered gamma-ray, and its accuracy is mainly dependent on the energy of the gamma-ray. The ²³⁸Pu low energy photon source is selected in this work. The energy of its gamma-ray is 15 keV, which can result not only in the best sensitivity, but also in the lowest contribution to the environment radiation. The root mean square deviation of the ash measurement is ±0.33% (±1σ).