Introduction of subjects

Introduction of subjects

Common subject

Practice of resource science

Students participate in geological excursions or visit mines and offices to learn the flow from the study of mineral deposits to productization. Three courses are available for excursions and visiting: (1) Oga Peninsula where igneous rock and sedimentary rock from 2000 years before to the present can be seen, (2) petroleum production bases such as Yuri oil-gas field and Yahashi oil field and mining offices for Hokuroku black ore, the Arakawa mine, and the Inai silver mine, (3) downstream sections of resources such as Kosaka refining plant, recycling facility, Matsuo mine wastewater treatment facility.

Overseas resource field work

Students visit mines and relevant research institutes etc. overseas for about one month to learn the reality of resource sciences at the forefront in the world. The expected training area includes Asia, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania, and Europe, and students will have the training at mining companies, companies related to oil or recycling, trading companies, and international cooperation organizations there. They will actually enter the worksite for resource business and learn many problems in resource-producing countries and at the forefront of resources.

Dept.of Resource Policy and Management [Social Science and Humanities]

Resource environmental economics

This class is designed to create understanding of the current situation of resource-related problems and the fundamental theory of resource economics in relation to minerals and energy resources indispensable for industries in Japan. In addition to environmental economics, students learn the value of the environment, fundamental theory of the optimum development level, and the relation between resource development and the environment by linking up with sustainable development and/or economics of resource supply.

Petroleum geology

This class is designed to teach the basic concept related to the formation of petroleum deposits, such as the basic concept of petroleum, properties of source rock and its generation in the environment, the process of maturation of source rock and the transfer to reservoir rock during such processes, properties of reservoir rock and its sedimentary environment, forms of traps that keep petroleum as deposits, and the importance of petroleum seals. Furthermore, students will learn properties of petroleum deposits and how they are formed in Japan, adjacent seas, South East Asia, Oceania, Middle East, North America, Middle America, South America, etc.

Dept.of Earth Resource Science [Science and technology]

Petroleum geology

This class is designed to teach the basic concept related to the formation of petroleum deposits, such as the basic concept of petroleum, properties of source rock and its generation in the environment, the process of maturation of source rock and the transfer to reservoir rock during such processes, properties of reservoir rock and its sedimentary environment, forms of traps that keep petroleum as deposits, and the importance of petroleum seals. Furthermore, students will learn properties of petroleum deposits and how they are formed in Japan, adjacent seas, South East Asia, Oceania, Middle East, North America, Middle America, South America, etc.

Mineralogy

This class provides lectures about the form, regularity, crystal structure, relationship between symmetry and chemical bonds, stability of crystals, dispersion of elements in crystals, growth of crystals, etc. of source minerals, rock-forming minerals, and jewel minerals in order to understand the properties of minerals which are to be the basis of mineral resource and rock. This understanding needs to be instilled into engineers of earth science who can cope with resource investigations and environmental problems.

Dept.of Earth Resource Engineering and Environmental Science [Science and technology]

Rock engineering

This class is to acquire the knowledge to evaluate the mechanical condition of rock and safely design development of excavations or slopes. In lectures, students learn how to investigate the condition and initial stress on the weak surface of rock, and the method to evaluate the rock condition before development. Then, the course continues to understand the method considering mechanical properties of the rock in relation to the design, construction, and safety management method for development of an excavation or slope.

Recycling and wastewater treatment engineering

This class is to understand the physicochemical treatment method used for elemental technologies of recycling or treatment technologies of mine drainage (pit wastewater). Students are required to understand (1) sorting techniques and separation mechanisms of resource recycling, and characteristics of metal recycling by the chemical method, (2) fundamental terminologies related to water quality, and (3) typical treatment methods etc. according to elements such as for heavy metal-containing wastewater in order to learn the treatment method depending on contaminant concentration or elements contained in wastewater.

Short lectures by each teacher are released in "Dream Navigator." Please visit there if you are trying to decide your future course or wonder what you will learn at the Faculty of International Resource Sciences. Messages from teachers on video clips are also released. "Dream Navigator.Enter "Akita University" in the university name field and search for it.