Seven caveats in the claim about turning mercury into gold with nuclear fusion
Marathon Fusion has claimed to successfully convert mercury into gold using nuclear fusion technology, though the process is technically nuclear transmutation. The company has not provided independent verification or specific production data, leading to significant scientific skepticism.
Why it matters
The claim challenges fundamental principles of nuclear physics and raises questions about the validity of high-profile scientific announcements in the energy sector.
Seven caveats in the claim about turning mercury into gold with nuclear fusion left Image used for representation purpose only. AP AP https://th-i.thgim.com/public/sci-tech/science/juk14j/article71626081.ece/alternates/FREE_1200/Gold.jpg In a preprint paper uploaded to the arXiv repository in July 2025, Marathon scientists had predicted this process could produce roughly 2 tonnes of gold annually for every gigawatt (GW) of thermal fusion power A San Francisco-based company named Marathon Fusion announced on October 21 that it had ‘converted’ mercury into gold in an experiment in September and that it had achieved a production rate tenfold greater than a record reported by CERN in 2025. The company has also proposed a programme in which mercury-198 is exposed to high-energy neutrons produced by nuclear fusion — in an existing power plant — converting it into radioactive mercury-197, which subsequently decays into stable gold-197.
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