A nuclear fusion startup has discovered a way to "turn mercury into gold" while generating electricity through alchemy, and while excited, it has not yet been verified.

The American startup Marathon Fusion has proposed turning mercury into gold using nuclear fusion, attracting significant attention from the gold market, but the paper is still awaiting experimental validation. (Background: Tether announced gold-backed token XAUt reserves: 7.66 tons of gold bars securely stored in Swiss vaults) (Background supplement: China’s "DGCX Xinkangjia" defrauded 13 billion RMB! Impersonating the Dubai Gold Exchange, with over 2 million victims) Can ordinary metals be transformed into gold? Now, a "mercury alchemist" has emerged in Silicon Valley. The San Francisco-based nuclear fusion startup Marathon Fusion claims that through deuterium-tritium fusion releasing 14 MeV neutrons, mercury-198 can be transformed into unstable mercury-197 via (n, 2n) reactions, which then decays into stable gold-197. Theoretically, each 1 GW reactor could produce an additional 5 tons of gold per year. The paper has been posted on arXiv, but the theoretical validity cannot be confirmed at present. The concept of nuclear transformation is being revisited in modern laboratories. Marathon Fusion was founded in 2023 by Schiller and Rutkowski, and the company currently has only 12 employees, yet has secured 5.9 million dollars in private sales and 4 million dollars in government grants. Their paper "Scalable Chrysopoeia via (n, 2n) Reactions Driven by Deuterium-Tritium Fusion Neutrons" suggests that by mixing mercury-198 into a Tokamak breeding blanket, neutron energy can be converted into a catalyst for gold production. Dr. Ahmed Diallo from Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory admitted that while this theory has yet to be verified: It sounds great theoretically, and everyone I've talked to so far is curious and excited. Doubling power plant profits Gold has long been viewed as a scarce safe-haven asset, with a global annual production of about 3,500 tons. Marathon Fusion calculated that if a 1 GW reactor maintains its power generation and tritium breeding efficiency, the additional value of 5 tons of gold could match the revenue from electricity prices. They refer to this plan as "alchemical native" design, aiming to add a cash flow to nuclear fusion. Rutkowski stated: Without affecting the operation of the fuel cycle, using high-speed neutron reactions to produce gold on a large scale. Currently, the paper remains in the calculation phase and has not passed peer review in physics, nor are there experimental data to support it. CFS Chief Technology Officer Brenner warned that from a pure scientific perspective, the whole concept seems feasible. I believe the real challenge is how to engineer it and create a practical system. First, the reactor needs to precisely control the neutron flux and the ratio of mercury isotopes; secondly, the decay process will produce other radioactively unstable gold isotopes, which may require storage for 14 to 18 years before they can circulate safely, slowing down the capital recovery. Furthermore, the commercialization of nuclear fusion itself has yet to overcome the thresholds of plasma stability and radiation-resistant materials, and past promises of "commercialization in ten years" have constantly fallen through; achieving "modern alchemy" is still a long way off. If gold can truly be mass-produced in the future, how the market will reprice precious metals remains full of unknowns. Related reports Experts exclaim against Fed's Powell: Bitcoin, US stocks, and gold reaching new highs, why lower interest rates if the economy is doing so well? Bitcoin is not as important as RWA! BioSig secures $1.1 billion in funding: targeting the $142 trillion tokenized gold and commodities market Where is institutional money flowing? Unveiling the five major golden tracks of the potential "altcoin season" in this round. This article was first published in BlockTempo, "The Most Influential Blockchain News Media."