Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the intertwining of mining, resource making and energy transition. Drawing from ongoing research on the Portuguese 'lithium rush', the paper examines the power entanglements of mining and energy transition in the emergent energopolitics of the European periphery.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the intertwining of mining, resource making and energy transition in the current Portuguese 'lithium rush'. Strongly linked to the 'clean' mobility paradigm of electric vehicles, lithium gained meaningful traction in the socio-technological imaginary of the energy transition. As a strategic resource, lithium also holds a special place in the EU Raw Material Initiative, which has among its pillars the 'sustainable' supply of raw materials from European sources. In Portugal, a strategic plan for mineral resources exploitation started to arise during the economic adjustment program. However, lithium prospecting applications skyrocketed only in the last few years. In 2017, the government launched the national lithium strategy with the aim of assessing the potentials of national resources and the feasibility of industrial development projects. The 'lithium rush' has rapidly become a controversial subject in national debates about the energy politics of transition and sustainable development. The issue of popular participation has also entered the debate, in the face of a strongly centralized decision-making process, which turned a politically sensitive issue into a technocratic matter. The sudden interest for the mineral wealth of remote rural regions unleashed the opposition of local populations, mindful of the socio-environmental legacy of past mining boom and bust cycles (mostly tin and tungsten). Drawing from ongoing research on lithium mining projects in northern Portugal, the paper examines the power entanglements of mining and energy transition in the emergent energopolitics of the European periphery.