Tylium

Fictional record. This page describes a mining commodity from a fictional setting, not a real material. Information is based on the cited canon, with adaptations and interpretation distinguished where necessary. It is kept separate from the real MineArchive corpus — see Fictional.

The mined fuel of Battlestar Galactica, in both the 1978 and 2004 series: an unstable mineral dug as ore, refined into the fuel that drives Colonial and Cylon ships, and liable to explode when hit by energy weapons in its raw state.

Where it occurs

In the 2004 series tylium ore is mined from asteroids and is apparently not found on the Twelve Colonies themselves; a large deposit can keep a fleet fuelled for years. In the 1978 series it is mined on the planet Carillon by the insectoid Ovions, and the merchandise encyclopaedia of 1979 gives Baltar's family a mine on the asteroid Cygnus.

How it's obtained

Mined as ore, in the 2004 series a fine powder, then liquefied and refined by refinery ships into a precursor and then the finished fuel. Impurities in the fuel cause engine malfunctions.

Properties

By Dr Baltar's account the ore is rendered inert by nuclear radiation, the refined precursor is far easier to ignite than the finished fuel, and the fuel's energy content is about half a million gigajoules a kilogram, roughly six times that of uranium-235, with no radioactive fallout when it detonates. Raw tylium explodes when struck by energy weapons, which is how Carillon was destroyed in the original series.

Why it's valuable

The fleet's survival. The jump drives that keep humanity ahead of the Cylons run on it, and the fuel shortage of the first season drives the attack on the Cylon refinery asteroid.

Uses

Fuel for jump drives and spacecraft propulsion; improvised mines; in the original series the Colonials also used a separate fuel, solium, which the wiki takes to suggest tylium is the raw mineral from which other grades derive.

Canon & adaptations

The two series pronounce the word differently, TIE-lee-um in 1978 and TILL-lee-um in 2004, and the network's own website once misspelt it tyllium. The Cygnus mine and the Ovions' exploitation come from a 1979 tie-in encyclopaedia the wiki marks as non-canonical.

Recorded claims

Each claim is marked with its basis — explicit canon, MineArchive inference, adaptation only, or fandom interpretation — and attached to the source(s) below. Where tellings disagree, both are kept.

• In the reimagined series tylium ore is mined from asteroids and is apparently not found on the Twelve Colonies. (MineArchive inference) ¹
• Baltar gives refined tylium an energy content of about half a million gigajoules per kilogram, about six times that of uranium-235, with no fallout on detonation. (MineArchive inference) ¹
• Raw tylium is a fine powder that is liquefied and refined by refinery ships; impurities cause engine malfunctions. (MineArchive inference) ¹
• In the 1978 series the planet Carillon, with its Ovion tylium mines, is destroyed when the Colonials ignite the ore with energy weapons. (MineArchive inference) ¹

Fictional mines producing this

Included only where MineArchive's own research gives a reasonable evidential basis.

• The tylium asteroid (The Hand of God)
  The ore body the Cylon refinery sat on and the fleet mined afterwards.

Sources

1. (interpretation) Tylium — Battlestar Wiki — Battlestar Wiki, covering both the 1978 and 2004 series
2. (interpretation) The Hand of God (2004 Battlestar Galactica) — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
3. (interpretation) The Hand of God (RDM) — Battlestar Wiki — Battlestar Wiki

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026