US fusion startup Marathon Fusion claims it has produced stable gold by using neutrons from a fusion reaction to turn mercury into gold. It has not publicly disclosed the quantity produced; research engineer Jake Harter said the amount is still microscopic. The paper’s estimate of about two tonnes of gold per gigawatt of thermal fusion power each year is a projection for a future plant, not current output.
Marathon would need to build a fusion reactor and scale up enriched-mercury production to pursue that output. Harter said the gold would also need to be stored for more than a decade before its radioactivity fell to very low levels. Precious-metals researcher Nikos Kavalis said there is no demonstration that the process is commercially viable, so claims that it could affect gold prices or benefit Bitcoin remain hypothetical.
