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Turning mercury into gold? Nuclear reactors may revive ancient dream of alchemy
Interesting Engineering ^ | July 24, 2025 | Abhishek Bhardwaj

Posted on 07/24/2025 11:28:52 AM PDT by Red Badger

The company claims it has cracked a scalable method to make stable gold from mercury.

Ever since the discovery of alchemy, or since humans thought gold was a precious object, a worldwide quest to turn common elements into the yellow metal has been ongoing.

Folklore and fables sing praises of humans who went on this quest and those who received such blessings. No such claims have yet stood the test of science, and this could change quite soon.

An engineering firm from the United States – Marathon Fusion – has claimed that making gold from mercury is possible, and they state that nuclear fusion will play a key role in the process.

The Silicon Valley-based company’s founders claimed in a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper.

In the paper, the authors say they have found a “new scalable method to synthesize stable gold from the abundant mercury isotope using reactions in a specialized neutron multiplier layer of a fusion blanket.”

The paper discusses high-energy neutrons produced in nuclear fusion reactors to transmute mercury into gold.

Turning mercury into gold

The process involves bombarding an isotope of mercury-198 with neutrons inside a fusion reactor. This would result in a new isotope, mercury-197, which is less stable and will decay into stable gold-197 within a few days. The naturally occurring form of the yellow metal is gold-197.

The majority of the nuclear fusion system, including tokamaks, relies on fusing deuterium and tritium- heavier forms of hydrogen. This reaction results in the production of helium, high-speed neutrons, and a vast amount of energy.

In a normal cycle, the neutrons are stored in a breeding blanket, which is designed to help in future fuel cycles. A breeding blanket is a critical component which surrounds the plasma and helps it achieve tritium self-sufficiency by breeding tritium fuel from lithium.

Marathon Fusion’s trick is adding a bit of mercury inside the breeding blanket. The mercury-198, a stable isotope, will convert into mercury-197 and turn into gold.

Making nuclear fusion a lucrative energy-generating activity As per the estimates made by the company’s founders, one gigawatt of fusion electricity could help make up to 11,023 pounds (5,000 kg) of gold annually. One gigawatt is the average output of a large nuclear plant, and this could lead to over $550 million worth of gold per year per GW of fusion energy, as per a report by ZME Science.

The process, if it sees the light of the day, could almost double the revenue of a nuclear fusion power plant. Moreover, as per the claims that money could be made without losing the energy output or any drop in tritium production.

The authors say that because of how valuable gold is in the markets, “this approach can subsidize the deployment of terawatts of fusion power without saturation.”

They also compared the neutrons produced in nuclear fusion and fission reactions. They concluded that “fusion is uniquely capable of providing large quantities of high-energy neutrons useful for driving new and valuable transmutation pathways.”

The paper also calls for developing a two-layer fusion blanket composed of an “inner blanket” and “outer blanket”, where the two layers have different working fluids selected based on the different neutron energy spectra in each layer.

The inner blanket will be designed to maximize the generation of gold.

The paper Scalable Chrysopoeia via (n, 2n) Reactions Driven by Deuterium-Tritium Fusion Neutrons can be accessed here.

Abstract

A scalable approach for chrysopoeia—the transmutation of base metals into gold—has been pursued for millennia. While there have been small-scale demonstrations in particle accelerators and proposals involving thermal neutron capture, no economically attractive approach has yet been identified. We show a new scalable method to synthesize stable gold (197Au) from the abundant mercury isotope 198Hg using (n, 2n) reactions in a specialized neutron multiplier layer of a fusion blanket. Reactions are driven by fast 14 MeV neutrons provided by a deuterium-tritium fusion plasma, which are uniquely capable of enabling the desired reaction pathway at scale. Crucially, the scheme identified here does not negatively impact electricity production and is also compatible with the challenging tritium breeding requirements of fusion power plant design because (n, 2n) reactions of 198Hg drive transmutation and neutron multiplication. Using neutronics simulations, we demonstrate a tokamak with a blanket configuration that can produce 197Au at a rate of about 2 t/GWth/yr. Implementing this concept allows fusion power plants to double the revenue generated by the system, dramatically enhancing the economic viability of fusion energy.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Business/Economy; History; Military/Veterans; Science
KEYWORDS: alchemy; astronomy; gold; ifhfakescience; kevmo; mercury; nuclearreactions; physics; science; stringtheory; transmutation
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To: takebackaustin

Then they wouldn’t be green!............


21 posted on 07/24/2025 11:56:49 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: mass55th

IMHO the Alchemy version of “Telegraph Road” is the greatest song ever on a live album.


22 posted on 07/24/2025 11:59:32 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

“First, Get a Nuclear Fusion Reactor.................”

Hmm, Reading through it this seems it seems like a viable DIY application for a tabletop IEC fusor.

Admittedly at 10^13 neutrons/sec it might take a few months to make a noticeable amount of admittedly annoying gold-mercury amalgam, but hey, it’s doable in a garage.

Actually IEC fusors can be scaled in interesting ways that might improve the yield.

So if the fusion reactor produces enough gold to pay for itself, is that break-even?


23 posted on 07/24/2025 12:00:55 PM PDT by no-s (Caja del Orador, Caja de Papeletas, Caja del Jurado, Caja de Cartuchos ... ya sabes cómo va...)
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To: Red Badger

And you can get mercury from burning coal.


24 posted on 07/24/2025 12:02:44 PM PDT by Cold Heart (BP S GW)
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To: takebackaustin

Good question!
It was tried but it creates a radioactive version of Au.
Pretty much worthless.


25 posted on 07/24/2025 12:05:58 PM PDT by Zathras
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To: Cold Heart

And eating tuna.............


26 posted on 07/24/2025 12:08:50 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

Problem.

If gold floods the market, guess what happens to the price of gold?


27 posted on 07/24/2025 12:14:18 PM PDT by Lazamataz (I'm so on fire that I feel the need to stop, drop, and roll!)
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To: Red Badger

Maybe they could use Dilithium Crystals to power the matter/antimatter reactor to do this.


28 posted on 07/24/2025 12:19:45 PM PDT by 1FreeAmerican
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To: 1FreeAmerican

No neutrons to use....................


29 posted on 07/24/2025 12:20:16 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Da Coyote

The file with the Flux Capacitor?


30 posted on 07/24/2025 12:22:42 PM PDT by 1FreeAmerican
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To: Lazamataz

Gold would become as common as aluminum. It has many uses that it can be used for but cannot because the cost is prohibitive. We would see it everywhere..................


31 posted on 07/24/2025 12:25:52 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: no-s

I predict an actual Mr. Fusion device would be in everybody’s home..............


32 posted on 07/24/2025 12:26:53 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

>> First, Get a Nuclear Fusion Reactor...

Harbor Freight has them. Not the best quality but ok for occasional use.


33 posted on 07/24/2025 12:28:30 PM PDT by Nervous Tick (Hope, as a righteous product of properly aligned Faith, IS in fact a strategy.)
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To: Red Badger

First one needs a bit of Philosophers Stone


34 posted on 07/24/2025 12:31:01 PM PDT by abigkahuna
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To: Nervous Tick

That may actually happen!................


35 posted on 07/24/2025 12:31:59 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: af_vet_1981

bttt


36 posted on 07/24/2025 12:32:15 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: Red Badger

Bkmk


37 posted on 07/24/2025 12:41:20 PM PDT by sauropod (Make sure Satan has to climb over a lot of Scripture to get to you. John MacArthur Ne supra crepidam)
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To: Red Badger

No Twilight Zone references. Disappointing


38 posted on 07/24/2025 12:42:26 PM PDT by Codeflier (Don't worry....be happy)
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To: Red Badger

How to turn Mercury into Gold:

First, Get a Nuclear Fusion Reactor.................

~~~

So maybe the ‘philosphers stone’ was heavily radioactive


39 posted on 07/24/2025 12:44:33 PM PDT by z3n (Kakistocracy)
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To: Red Badger

How about seeing the produced energy for the USEFUL ‘gold’ that it is….


40 posted on 07/24/2025 12:45:49 PM PDT by larrytown (A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Then they graduate...)
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