Creation of environment-friendly technology that connects resources and materials
Mineral Processing, Recycling & Environmental Remediation Laboratory, Professor Naoko Okibe

MINERAL PROCESSING, RECYCLING and ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION Laboratory at Kyushu University has a rich history spanning over 100 years, evolving alongside the university’s legacy. The lab is dedicated to research and education aimed at overcoming various engineering challenges related to converting resources into materials. Formerly known as mining engineering, which once served as the lifeblood of various industries, it has now transformed into a subfield within comprehensive engineering known as Earth Resource System Engineering.

At Kyushu University, the Department of Earth Resources Engineering consists of seven laboratories that cover the entire resource development process, analogous to the flow of a river from its source to downstream. MINERAL PROCESSING, RECYCLING and ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION Laboratory located at the downstream end is responsible for both converting resources into materials and supplying them to new supply chains.

In other words, our laboratory focuses not only on underground natural resources (primary resources) but also on transforming urban mining waste (secondary resources) into usable materials. Resource processing engineering plays a crucial role in increasing the purity of valuable substances through separation and refinement, while environmental remediation engineering aims to immobilize or remove unwanted elements resulting from these processes.

In resource development processes that impose a significant burden on the Earth’s environment, our mission is to propose new environmentally harmonious resource processing engineering and environmental remediation engineering. All elements on Earth circulate through biogeochemical cycles. In other words, life on Earth and its metabolic products have evolved while interacting with metallic elements and minerals in the Earth’s crust through chemical reactions. By identifying, optimizing, and applying these refined natural reactions, it is possible to develop technologies that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We aspire to constantly propose novel and innovative ideas and share environmentally harmonious technologies with the world.