A centuries-old alchemical fantasy may be edging toward reality, as Marathon Fusion claims its tokamak fusion reactor can transform ordinary mercury into gold during the fusion process — and in quantities that would leave even Auric Goldfinger astonished.
The Philosopher’s Stone and Ancient Ambitions
For millennia, alchemists dreamt of crafting the elusive Philosopher’s Stone — a mythical substance said to transmute base metals like copper, lead, or mercury into pure gold. These early experiments, combining rudimentary chemistry with mystical beliefs, were as much about personal enlightenment as they were about material gain.
Despite laying the groundwork for modern chemistry, these ancient alchemists never succeeded in producing real gold — aside from the illusions sold to eager patrons by a few cunning fraudsters.
Fast-forward to the atomic age, where physicists unlocked the science of nuclear transmutation. However, while gold could indeed be produced in lab settings, the process was prohibitively expensive and yielded only microscopic amounts.
Chrysopoeia: From Myth to Possible Reality
Today, the concept of chrysopoeia — the refined term for metal transmutation — may finally have real-world potential. And, as with many modern breakthroughs, it’s a surprising offshoot of another innovation.
Marathon Fusion, a company focused on advancing fusion power systems, reports that its tokamak reactors not only generate abundant clean energy but can also convert mercury into approximately five metric tonnes of gold for every gigawatt (~2.5 GWth) of electricity produced.
Here’s how it works: A method similar to tritium breeding involves lining the reactor chamber with mercury-198 or a lithium-mercury alloy. When bombarded with high-energy neutrons from the fusion reaction, mercury-198 becomes unstable mercury-197, which quickly undergoes beta decay to form stable gold-197. The reactor also produces tritium when it uses the alloy.
Optimizing the Process
In a recent preprint paper (pending peer review), Marathon researchers propose enriching mercury to about 90% of the desired isotope to optimize conversion.Researchers can chemically process the material after reactor exposure to extract the gold — a relatively straightforward task thanks to gold’s chemical inertness.
On the economic side, with gold trading at roughly US$3,388.50 per troy ounce, five tonnes annually translates to around US$544.8 million. That’s a substantial offset to reactor costs — with enough left over to celebrate with a bottle of vintage Pol Roger Brut Champagne.
Read the original article on: New Atlas
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