Spas as Geological Laboratories: Mapping Lithium in the Ore Mountains 1817-1900
17. Jänner 2025, 11.30 Uhr Online
Vorstellung des PhD-Projekts von Anastasia Kubrak
Vortrag im Rahmen des PhD Kolloquiums bei Frau Prof.in Dr.in Jasmin Mersmann
Renown as a critical raw material in the EU’s ongoing energy transition, lithium has also been used in the medical treatment of mania and depression since the late nineteenth century. This PhD research documents the prospective sites of lithium extraction in Europe, such as Northern Bohemia, where the practices of bathing, drinking and mining lithium have been historically intertwined.
The presentation will unpack the intimate relationships between mineral spas and mining in the Czech Ore Mountains through the object of the geological map and the figure of the doctor-geologist. While prescribing mineral bathing and drinking cures for exhausted bodies, spa doctors produced some of the earliest geological maps and surveys of mineral resources for the Austrian Empire. As such, European mineral spas served as chemical and geological laboratories that played a role in the expansive industrialisation and mining of coal, tin and other metals in the nineteenth century, which, in turn, paved the way for the ongoing lithium extraction projects.
Coloured photograph, c.1900. Courtesy Bilinska Kyselka Museum.