The Speculation and Spectres of Cornish Mining: A White Gold Rush for A Green Future in Post-Brexit Britain

我对康沃尔郡的投机性锂矿很感兴趣。人们对以前的矿山的重新勘探感到非常兴奋，这些矿山有望拥有大量的“白金”——英国脱欧后电动汽车的愿望和能源转型的主角。主导重新勘探对话的是物理科学家和经济投资者。虽然他们暗指康沃尔的采矿历史，但对康沃尔采矿的过去，现在和未来的纠缠的批判性检查是缺席的。虽然锂矿被认为是该地区的灵丹妙药，但锂矿的繁荣对康沃尔社区和环境意味着什么，这个问题需要提出。我的博士项目通过民族志提出了这些问题的探索，坐在关于地方制造，边缘性和关键地缘政治的文献的交叉点。我还打算使用创造性的书面、视觉和数字故事输出来吸引非学术观众，并为地理的“重新魅力”做出贡献。

I am interested in the speculative lithium mining occurring in Cornwall. There is much excitement about the re-exploration of former mines which are hoped to hold significant levels of this 'white gold'- the protagonist of post-Brexit Britain's electromobility aspirations and energy transition. Dominating the re-exploration conversation are physical scientists and economic investors. Whilst they allude to the mining history of Cornwall, a critical examination of the entanglement of the pasts, presents, and futures of Cornish mining is absent. Whilst presented as an elixir for the region, the questions of what a lithium mining boom would mean for Cornish communities and environments need to be asked. My DPhil project proposes an exploration of these questions through ethnography, sitting at the intersection of literatures concerning place-making, marginality, and critical geopolitics. I also intend to use creatively written, visual, and digital storytelling outputs to engage non-academic audiences and contribute to the 're-enchantment' of geography.