{
  "id": 16157255,
  "title": "Could lab-made gold crash prices like diamonds? US start-up says it turned mercury into gold",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/23/could-lab-made-gold-crash-prices-like-diamonds-us-start-up-says-it",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-23T06:14:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euronews",
    "slug": "euronews",
    "url": "https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/23/could-lab-made-gold-crash-prices-like-diamonds-us-start-up-says-it-turned-mercury-into-gol"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Marathon Fusion, a San Francisco-based fusion energy startup, claimed on Wednesday that it had transformed mercury into stable gold, setting a new record ten times greater than CERN's previous achievement. The feat, unverified by independent sources, reignites concerns about the possibility of lab-made gold disrupting the precious metal market, similar to the impact lab-grown diamonds had on the diamond industry. Marathon, founded in 2023 by Kyle Schiller and Adam Rutkowski, develops fuel systems for future fusion power plants and has secured backing from prominent investors like Breakthrough Energy and Anglo American, the owner of De Beers, the world's leading natural diamond producer. The company's process involves firing neutrons at mercury to create an unstable form that decays into gold. If proven true, Marathon's method could theoretically produce about 5 tonnes of gold annually per gigawatt of electricity, potentially capturing around 14% of the current global gold mine output. However, no commercial gold production from fusion is expected for years, and the produced material may still contain radioactive isotopes, requiring extensive storage before possible sale.",
  "summary": "Little-known San Francisco start-up Marathon Fusion says it has turned mercury into stable gold at ten times the rate of CERN's record, raising a question that has haunted the diamond trade: could lab-made gold one day sink the price of the mined metal?",
  "key_points": [
    "Marathon Fusion claims to have converted mercury into stable gold.",
    "Process involves firing neutrons at mercury to create unstable gold.",
    "If proven, could produce 5 tonnes of gold annually per gigawatt."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Successful transmutation of mercury into gold threatens to destabilize the precious metal market by introducing a synthetic supply that mirrors the disruptive impact lab-grown diamonds had on their industry.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}