Rorie Gilligan
@roriegilligan.bsky.social
PhD. in hydrometallurgy. Research metallurgist based in Western Australia mostly working with raw materials for batteries. I've published papers on the metallurgy of vanadium, lithium, and uranium.
November 23, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Cooking dirt again
November 14, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Cooking dirt again
Talking about radioactive rocks at work today, or what I spent 2012-2016 studying.
November 10, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Talking about radioactive rocks at work today, or what I spent 2012-2016 studying.
Talking about spodumene calcination at MetFest yesterday.
October 30, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Talking about spodumene calcination at MetFest yesterday.
It does indeed say "don't walk on fish".
October 13, 2025 at 3:29 AM
It does indeed say "don't walk on fish".
People read these?
October 8, 2025 at 8:40 AM
People read these?
Eight years ago today, in the afternoon before my PhD graduation ceremony in September 2017.
September 14, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Eight years ago today, in the afternoon before my PhD graduation ceremony in September 2017.
Sunrise over the Swan River. Unusually early start at work this morning.
September 8, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Sunrise over the Swan River. Unusually early start at work this morning.
An informal presentation for my colleagues as our first weekly seminar. These slides were originally presented at a vanadium chemistry conference in Lisbon in 2023 and are on the extraction of vanadium from titanomagnetite ores.
September 3, 2025 at 9:09 AM
An informal presentation for my colleagues as our first weekly seminar. These slides were originally presented at a vanadium chemistry conference in Lisbon in 2023 and are on the extraction of vanadium from titanomagnetite ores.
I'm apparently cited in a French Wikipedia article. The entry for brannerite, the uranium bearing mineral I did my PhD on.
September 2, 2025 at 7:17 AM
I'm apparently cited in a French Wikipedia article. The entry for brannerite, the uranium bearing mineral I did my PhD on.
Changing trains en route to work this morning. Lovely weather in Perth today.
September 1, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Changing trains en route to work this morning. Lovely weather in Perth today.
My vanadium paper hit 250 citations in the last couple of days. That's a little under once a week since it was published in late 2019.
August 10, 2025 at 10:44 AM
My vanadium paper hit 250 citations in the last couple of days. That's a little under once a week since it was published in late 2019.
Standing in the pilot plant in our new research centre down in Rockingham.
August 6, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Standing in the pilot plant in our new research centre down in Rockingham.
This is where I was nine years ago today. Two weeks after I'd submitted my PhD thesis for examination, I gave a 20 minute talk at a metallurgy conference in Cape Town, South Africa summarising the key findings from four years of studying the mineral brannerite.
August 2, 2025 at 12:56 AM
This is where I was nine years ago today. Two weeks after I'd submitted my PhD thesis for examination, I gave a 20 minute talk at a metallurgy conference in Cape Town, South Africa summarising the key findings from four years of studying the mineral brannerite.
And checking the Pourbaix diagram, tungsten metal sits outside the stability region of water, so it shouldn't be possible to electroplate - you start turning water to hydrogen before you reach a low enough potential to reduce tungstate ions to tungsten metal.
July 31, 2025 at 2:13 AM
And checking the Pourbaix diagram, tungsten metal sits outside the stability region of water, so it shouldn't be possible to electroplate - you start turning water to hydrogen before you reach a low enough potential to reduce tungstate ions to tungsten metal.
I don't think tungsten can be electroplated. The metal is typically produced as a powder by hydrogen reduction of tungsten trioxide following a lengthy chemical process to produce tungsten trioxide from scheelite or wolframite.
July 31, 2025 at 1:49 AM
I don't think tungsten can be electroplated. The metal is typically produced as a powder by hydrogen reduction of tungsten trioxide following a lengthy chemical process to produce tungsten trioxide from scheelite or wolframite.
A couple of old photos of a thermite demonstration put on by my department at the uni on a weekend open day. The thermite mix was in a fire clay crucible with a hole in the base covered by paper. Once ignited, the molten iron burns through the paper falling into a 5L beaker of water and sand.
July 30, 2025 at 1:47 PM
A couple of old photos of a thermite demonstration put on by my department at the uni on a weekend open day. The thermite mix was in a fire clay crucible with a hole in the base covered by paper. Once ignited, the molten iron burns through the paper falling into a 5L beaker of water and sand.
And the vanadium display, showing the stages the ore goes through to get the final vanadium pentoxide product. That can be further refined to make electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries.
July 26, 2025 at 3:09 AM
And the vanadium display, showing the stages the ore goes through to get the final vanadium pentoxide product. That can be further refined to make electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries.
A display of a few spodumene samples, spodumene concentrates, and calcined spodumene concentrates - it needs to be heated to ~1050°C to make the lithium inside it extractable.
July 26, 2025 at 3:07 AM
A display of a few spodumene samples, spodumene concentrates, and calcined spodumene concentrates - it needs to be heated to ~1050°C to make the lithium inside it extractable.
A photo in one of our new labs. There should be papers out later this year based on the projects in the posters, too. The one on the left is about vanadium titanomagnetite processing. The one on the right is a comparison of three different lithium ore samples.
July 26, 2025 at 3:02 AM
A photo in one of our new labs. There should be papers out later this year based on the projects in the posters, too. The one on the left is about vanadium titanomagnetite processing. The one on the right is a comparison of three different lithium ore samples.
Seen on a page called "posts that aged badly"
July 8, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Seen on a page called "posts that aged badly"
I forget the context of this.
June 29, 2025 at 8:35 AM
I forget the context of this.
This was eight years ago.
June 29, 2025 at 5:36 AM
This was eight years ago.
From a list of 100 people most at risk of starting another war, published in 2013 on the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Frum was 17th.
June 26, 2025 at 8:48 AM
From a list of 100 people most at risk of starting another war, published in 2013 on the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Frum was 17th.
400th citation today. Most recent one was a paper on titanomagnetite ores from Iran. The next goal is to get a bunch of those draft lithium papers off for review. Got some papers on battery recycling almost ready to go along with a few on lithium ore processing that need a bit more work.
June 25, 2025 at 5:37 AM
400th citation today. Most recent one was a paper on titanomagnetite ores from Iran. The next goal is to get a bunch of those draft lithium papers off for review. Got some papers on battery recycling almost ready to go along with a few on lithium ore processing that need a bit more work.