Startup "Marathon Fusion" Announces Transmutation of Mercury into Gold Using Thermonuclear Fusion Neutrons

Recently, San Francisco-based startup Marathon Fusion announced that it has successfully used high-energy neutrons produced by deuterium-tritium (D-T) thermonuclear fusion reactions to transmute the element mercury into gold, claiming that its yield reached ten times the previously recorded level at CERN.

It is reported that the technology is based on high-energy neutrons released by D-T fusion reactions striking mercury-198 nuclei, stripping one neutron to convert them into the radioactive isotope mercury-197, which subsequently decays to ultimately form gold-197, the only stable isotope of gold. Marathon Fusion published gamma-ray spectroscopy as characteristic evidence for the presence of mercury-197; however, the specific mass of gold produced remains at an extremely minute picogram level.

Marathon Fusion previously noted in an academic paper that future large-scale commercial thermonuclear fusion power plants could theoretically produce several tons of gold per year as a byproduct, thereby substantially enhancing the operational economics of the plants. However, this pathway not only depends on industrial-scale fusion reactors and enriched mercury feedstock that are still under development, but the resulting products also require a radioactive decay cooling period of as long as 14 to 18 years before they can be safely brought to market.

Although formidable engineering and economic challenges remain before large-scale commercialization can be achieved, Marathon Fusion's successful experiment has validated the feasibility of applying fusion neutron sources in the fields of isotope transmutation and materials synthesis, opening up a new direction of exploration for the diversified high-value utilization of fusion energy in the future.