🥇 A Startup Has Learned to Turn Mercury into Gold
A Silicon Valley startup, Marathon Fusion, has discovered a way to transform a thermonuclear reactor into a "philosopher's stone" that not only generates energy but also converts mercury into gold as a byproduct.
The researchers proposed using mercury-198 as a neutron multiplier to sustain the deuterium-tritium fusion reaction.
Typically, materials such as beryllium, lithium, or lead are used for this purpose; however, all of them have similar drawbacks—they are either expensive or produce toxic waste.
However, when mercury-198 is exposed to neutrons in the reactor, it transforms into mercury-197, which spontaneously decays into stable gold-197 within a couple of days.
The innovation of this method lies in its economic efficiency. The precious metal is produced as a "waste product"—an optimistic scenario predicts up to 5 tonnes of gold per year for every 1 GW of the reactor's electrical output (equivalent to about 0.13% of the world's gold production in 2024).
Additionally, the developers believe that the same technology can be used to obtain other rare metals, such as palladium, as well as for synthesizing medical isotopes and producing materials for so-called "nuclear batteries."
However, the new method comes with challenges. First, the produced gold contains radioactive impurities, meaning it must "age" for nearly 18 years before it becomes safe. Second, mercury-198 makes up only 10% of natural mercury, so additional costs will be required to enrich it for use in the reaction.
