The Death of Gold Mining? Mercury Is Being Turned Into Gold

For millennia, people have been
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captivated by the idea of transforming
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base metals like lead or mercury into
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precious gold. This quest began with
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alchemy, a blend of early chemistry,
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mysticism, and philosophy dating back to
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ancient civilizations in China, Egypt,
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and Greece. Alchemists believe metals
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matured in the earth. Lead was an
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immature metal, and gold the perfect
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final form. If nature could slowly turn
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lead into gold, they wondered, could
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human ingenuity speed up the process?
Turning Mercury Into Pure Gold: The Ramifications
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And now it appears like we've hit a
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breakthrough. A startup energy company
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called Marathon Fusion claims to have
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found a cost-effective way to turn
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mercury into pure gold. This is both
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amazing and scary. It's amazing because
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it means mining the earth for gold might
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soon become obsolete. And it's scary
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because it means mining the earth for
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gold might soon become obsolete,
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triggering job loss along with a myriad
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of other issues, including the price of
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gold dropping substantially from its
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current record high. So, let's take a
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closer look at what's actually going on.
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We'll start with the recent history and
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we'll go through the process that the
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startup is going to follow and cover how
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much gold could theoretically be
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generated before addressing the issues
1:12
that this may or may not have on the
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mining industry.
The Beginning of Nuclear Transmutation
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In 1902, Ernest Ratherford and Frederick
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Sodi observed that certain radioactive
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elements naturally decay into other
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elements over time, proving that atoms
1:25
can transform by losing particles. In
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1919, Ratherford went further and
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achieved the first artificial
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transmutation. He fired high-speed alpha
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particles, helium nuclei, into nitrogen
1:36
gas and managed to knock loose protons,
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turning nitrogen into oxygen. This was a
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landmark moment. Humanity had forced one
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element to become another, succeeding
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where alchemists never could. The
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principle was clear. Nuclear reactions,
1:51
not chemical reactions, were the key to
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changing elements. Understanding this
1:55
requires a simple analogy. If an atom is
The "Lego" Analogy
1:57
like a Lego model, chemical reactions
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are like rearranging or swapping whole
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Lego pieces between models. You can
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change molecules that way, but you'll
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never turn a toy car into a toy
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spaceship unless you swap out some
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fundamental pieces. In an atom, those
Making A Gold Atom Out Of Something Else
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fundamental pieces are protons. Gold
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remains gold in all chemical reactions
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because the gold atom always has 79
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protons. To make a gold atom out of
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something else, you'd have to remove or
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add protons in a nucleus, a far more
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extreme operation than any chemistry.
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It's essentially nuclear surgery on the
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atom's core. For decades, this was
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practically unthinkable outside of
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natural radioactive decay. But with the
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dawn of the atomic age, scientists gain
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new tools, particle accelerators and
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nuclear reactors that could finally snip
2:42
or swap atomic Lego pieces and fulfill
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the old transmutation dream.
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By the midentieth century, scientists
Turning Base Metals Into Pure Gold
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knew that in theory, turning lead into
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gold was physically possible. It was
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just a matter of changing three protons
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lead 82 to gold 79 or similarly
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converting mercury element 80 into gold
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element 79 by removing one proton. The
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challenge was how to coax nuclei to shed
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protons or otherwise change in a
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controlled way. The approach would be
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brute force slam atoms with subatomic
3:14
particles at tremendous energies. In
The First Successful Transmutation of Bismuth into Gold
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1980, Nobel chemist Glenn T. Seabborg
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and colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley Lab
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famously accomplished a modern
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alchemical feat. They transmuted a small
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quantity of bismouth element 83 into
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gold. Instead of magical stones, they
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used the lab's bevel particle
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accelerator which hurled charged nuclei
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like carbon and neon atoms to nearly
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light speed and smashed them into a
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bismouth target. These violent
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collisions sometimes knocked out several
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protons from bismouth atoms, leaving
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behind atoms of gold. In essence, they
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blasted Bismouth apart and occasionally
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the pieces reassembled as gold. The
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transmutation worked. Gold atoms were
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created, but the yield was astonishingly
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small. Only a few atoms of gold were
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produced. Far too few to see or extract
4:02
chemically. The team had to detect them
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by measuring radioactivity from the new
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gold isotopes as they decayed. This tiny
The Expensive Economics of The Process
4:09
yield was no accident. Nuclear
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transmutation is incredibly inefficient
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and expensive. Most collisions don't
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produce gold. Many produce other
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elements or break the atoms into
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fragments. Seabbog's experiment ran for
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many hours at great cost. One co-author
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estimated it cost more than one
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quadrillion dollars per ounce of gold it
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created when you extrapolate the energy
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and equipment costs. As another
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researcher put it, it is relatively
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straightforward to convert lead,
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bismouth or mercury into gold. The
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problem is the production rate is very
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very small. Any energy, money, etc.
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expended will always far exceed the
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output of gold. In other words, alchemy
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by accelerator is a losing economic
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proposition. A speck of gold might cost
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a king's ransom in energy bills. So why
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are scientists again talking about
Transmutation In The 21st Century
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turning mercury into gold in 2025? The
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answer lies in an unexpected synergy
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between the quest for gold and another
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long-held human ambition, harnessing
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nuclear fusion for energy. Fusion is the
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process that powers the sun and stars.
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Light atoms like hydrogen fuse together
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at extreme temperatures, releasing
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enormous energy and producing heavier
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atoms like helium. For decades,
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researchers have worked to build fusion
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reactors on Earth to generate clean
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energy. A side effect of fusion
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reactions, especially the fusion being
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pursued in many designs, is a flood of
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high energy neutrons. These neutrons
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typically slam into a surrounding
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blanket material, often lithium, to
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breed new fuel and protect a reactor.
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Enter a startup company called Marathon
The Start Up Company Promising To Change Everything: Marathon Fusion
5:39
Fusion, which recently announced an
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audacious plan to leverage those spare
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fusion neutrons for a bit of modern
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alchemy. In July of 2025, Marathon
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Fusion revealed a proposal to use their
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fusion reactor not just for energy, but
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also to transmute mercury into gold. In
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a pre-print research paper, the company
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outlines how a fusion power plant could
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effectively serve as an alchemical
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cauldron, fulfilling the medieval dream
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while generating electricity at the same
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time. Chrysopier oral gold making has
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indeed been demonstrated before in labs,
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they acknowledge, but never in a way
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that made economic sense. Marathon's
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twist is to piggyback gold production
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onto a fusion reactor so that both the
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energy and the gold make the reactor
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more cost effective. Essentially, the
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gold becomes a valuable byproduct of the
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fusion process, potentially helping fund
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the expensive development of fusion
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energy. But how would it work?
How Marathon Fusion Plans To Generate Gold
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Marathon's plan specifically targets
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mercury 198, a stable isotope of
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mercury. The reactor design modifies the
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typical fusion blanket by introducing a
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mercury containing layer mixed with the
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usual lithium. When the fusion plasma in
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the reactor burns, it releases torrents
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of fast neutrons. In Marathon's concept,
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these neutrons would crash into Mercury
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198 atoms and set off a nuclear reaction
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called N2N, meaning one neutron in, two
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neutrons out. The effect is that a
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Mercury 198 atom hit by a high-speed
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neutron can lose a neutron even as it
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absorbs the incoming one, transmuting it
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into Mercury 197, an unstable isotope.
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Mercury 197 can't hold onto its protons
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for long. After about 64 hours, it under
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goes electron capture, a decay process
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that effectively causes one proton to
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convert into a neutron. When mercury 197
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decays in this way, the atom's proton
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count drops from 80 to 79. It literally
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becomes gold 197, the one stable isotope
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of gold. In short, the fusion reactor's
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neutron buff knocks a tiny piece of the
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mercury atoms, and those atoms then
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decay into gold. Alchemist used mystical
7:47
phrases for this change. Modern nuclear
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engineers might simply call it beta
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decay, but the result is the same
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coveted element, AU 197, ordinary gold.
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What's striking is the scale Marathon
How Much Gold Can Be Generated Per Year?
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Fusion claims is achievable. According
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to their simulations, a full-scale
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fusion power plant, about 1 gawatt
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electric, typical of a large power
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station, could produce on the order of
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2,000 kg of gold per year. That's
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roughly $352 million Australian dollars
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worth of gold produced per year from a
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single reactor. Marathon Fusion suggests
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that selling this byproduct gold could
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double a fusion plant's revenue, making
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fusion energy far more economically
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attractive. In their words, it could
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dramatically enhance the economic
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viability of fusion energy and jumpstart
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a fusion-powered electric grid that also
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turns out gold bars on the side. It's a
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bold vision. Electricity and gold
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delivered in tandem using the most
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advanced physics to answer an ancient
8:46
wish. Now, all of this might sound like
The Downside of Fusion Generated Gold
8:48
a gold ticket, but here's the plot
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twist. The gold is literally radioactive
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when it's formed and require 17 years of
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quote unquote cool down time to be
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sellable. And since the price of gold
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fluctuates, you can't really know how
9:01
much your golden ticket is worth today.
9:03
And while the concept is rooted in well
9:05
understood nuclear physics, it's
9:07
important to note that this process
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exists only in simulations and
9:11
theoretical designs published in a
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preprint. No experimental reactor is yet
9:16
demonstrated gold production at this
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scale and in fact commercial fusion
9:20
power itself has not yet been achieved.
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Until a functioning sustained fusion
9:25
plant is built, the gold making side of
9:28
this idea remains entirely unproven.
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Another practical challenge is the
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source material. The process
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specifically requires mercury 198 which
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makes up only about 10% of naturally
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occurring mercury. That means
9:42
large-scale production would require
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isotope enrichment or separation.
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Technically feasible but costly
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energyintensive and subject to strict
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handling regulations due to mercury's
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toxicity. So will this venture kill gold
The Effect on The Gold Mining Industry
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mining globally? No. At least it won't
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for a long time. Let's assume everything
10:00
goes to plan to a tea, which is highly
10:03
unlikely, but for this scenario to work,
10:04
we'll roll with it, and it actually
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generates salable gold. 2 tons per
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gawatt of thermal power per year is a
10:11
drop in the bucket compared to roughly
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3,000 tons mined annually worldwide.
10:16
Even if dozens of such reactors were
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built, the ramp up would be gradual,
10:20
giving markets time to adjust. Gold
10:22
prices are influenced not just by
10:24
physical supply, but by investor
10:26
sentiment, central bank reserves,
10:28
jewelry demand, and its role as a hedge
10:30
against economic uncertainty. That said,
10:33
if fusion transmutation ever reached the
10:35
point of flooding the market with
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hundreds of tons annually, prices could
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soften, which might squeeze margins for
10:41
small miners and impact jobs in gold
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mining regions. In practice, though, the
10:45
biggest near-term risk isn't to miners.
10:47
It's that fusion generated gold would
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take nearly two decades to cool down
10:51
before being sold, making it more of a
10:53
long-term curiosity than an immediate
10:55
economic disruptor. But with all this
12:33 - The Journey of Transmutation & Patreon / YouTube Member Thank You!
10:58
being said, the notion of turning lead
11:00
or mercury into gold has traveled a
11:02
remarkable trajectory. I mean, think
11:04
about it. From ancient mystics stirring
11:06
potions in clay crucibles to modern
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physicists designing cuttingedge fusion
11:10
reactors for centuries, it was a
11:12
fanciful metaphor for human
11:13
transformation and ambition. In the 20th
11:16
century, it became a literal, if costly,
11:18
laboratory reality. And now in the 21st,
11:21
it's being revisited as a practical side
11:23
business of fusion energy. There's a
11:25
poetic symmetry in this progression. The
11:27
alchemist sought a philosopher stone to
11:29
gain wealth and life. In a way, fusion
11:32
kind of is a philosopher stone for our
11:34
age, a source of virtually limitless
11:37
energy. If it also happens to spill a
11:39
bit of gold out of its reaction chamber,
11:41
all the better. But of course,
11:42
extraordinary claims require
11:44
extraordinary proof. Marathon Fusion's
11:47
concept will need to undergo rigorous
11:49
peerre and ultimately real world
11:51
testing. Skeptics note that many fusion
11:54
and transmutation ideas have glimmered
11:56
with promise only to face setbacks. So
11:59
all we can do right now is watch from
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afar and see what happens. But the dream
12:03
that once obsessed emperors and emperors
12:05
magicians is now, with no small sense of
12:07
irony, being pursued not by rogue
12:09
mystics, but by hoodiewearing startup
12:11
founders and labcoded plasma physicists.
12:15
Hope you found this as interesting as I
12:16
did, and as always, thanks for watching.
12:21
Before I end this video, I'd like to
12:23
give a big shout out to my Patreon and
12:25
YouTube members. Thank you so much to
12:27
everyone that helps to support this
12:29
channel.