US fusion startup Marathon Fusion says it has produced stable gold from mercury using neutrons from a fusion reaction, but it has not disclosed the exact amount. A company engineer said the quantities are still microscopic; its paper’s estimate of about two tonnes a year per gigawatt of thermal fusion power is a projection for a future plant, not current output.
Producing gold at that scale would require an operating fusion reactor and more enriched mercury. The engineer said the gold would also need to be stored for a little over a decade for its radioactivity to fall to “banana-levels.” Metals Focus managing director Nikos Kavalis said there is no demonstration that the process is commercially viable, so its effect on gold supply or prices remains hypothetical.
