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

我对康沃尔发生的投机性锂开采感兴趣。人们对重新勘探以前的矿山感到非常兴奋，这些矿山有望拥有大量的白金--英国退欧后电动汽车愿望和能源过渡的主角。主导重新勘探对话的是物理学家和经济投资者。虽然它们暗示了康沃尔的采矿历史，但没有对康沃尔采矿的过去、现在和未来的纠缠进行批判性的审查。虽然被认为是该地区的灵丹妙药，但锂矿开采热潮将对康沃尔社区和环境意味着什么，这一问题需要被提出。我的DPhil项目建议通过民族志来探索这些问题，坐在关于地点创造、边缘和关键地缘政治的文献的交叉点上。我还打算使用创造性的书面、视觉和数字讲故事的成果来吸引非学术受众，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.