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Lab-grown Gold
A lot of talk is going around lately about lab-grown gold.
Scientists have been reportedly exploring ways to create the precious element through various methods.
What is Marathon Fusion's claim?
A San Francisco-based fusion energy startup called Marathon Fusion has claimed that gold can be developed from mercury using the nuclear fusion process.
Marathon Fusion shared that using the radioactivity of neutron particles in a nuclear fusion reactor, mercury can be transformed into mercury-197. This element then decays into a stable form of gold, known as gold-197.
In an academic paper that has not yet been peer-reviewed, the startup said, “Fusion-driven transmutation of 198Hg into gold transforms fusion energy from a stand-alone power technology into a multi-product industrial platform, dramatically strengthening its economic and societal value proposition.”
“With focused effort on the technology gaps identified above, the approach described here could accelerate the commercial deployment of fusion power and, in doing so, turn an ancient aspiration into a reality. The goal of classical alchemy is now achievable through practical engineered solutions,” it added.
The challenges of lab-grown gold
Speaking with the Financial Times, Marathon Fusion's Chief Technology Officer, Adam Rutkowski, disclosed that gold produced in this way needs to be stored for 14 to 18 years before it can be labelled as entirely safe.
According to the report in the FT, the process may also be used to produce other precious metals, but the company believes that, given the scale of the gold market, production from fusion reactions could be absorbed without negatively impacting pricing.
CNBC TV18 reported that Dan Brunner, former CTO of Bill Gates-backed Commonwealth Fusion Systems and now an adviser to Marathon Fusion, said, “Gold is in that sweet spot. From a purely scientific perspective, it looks like it all hangs together. I think the challenge comes into actually engineering it into a practical system,” he said.