Mercury to Gold

[1984]

From 2006 or earlier wikipedia article:

The artificial production of gold is the age-old dream of the alchemists. It is possible in particle accelerators or nuclear reactors, although the production cost is currently many times the market price of gold. Since there is only one stable gold isotope, 197Au, nuclear reactions must create this isotope in order to produce usable gold.

Gold obtained by mining has copper and silver impurities. Gold of higher purity can be made through the photoneutron process:[citation needed]

Mercury 198 + 6.8MeV gamma ray --) 1 neutron + Mercury 197 (half-life 2.7 days --) Gold 197 + 1 positron)

These energy levels allow a more efficient neutron source than the Spallation Neutron Source.

Gold synthesis in an accelerator

Gold synthesis in a particle accelerator is possible in many ways. The Spallation Neutron Source has a liquid mercury target that will be transmuted into gold, platinum, and iridium, which are lower in atomic number.

Gold synthesis in a nuclear reactor

Gold was first synthesized from mercury by neutron bombardment in 1941, but the isotopes of gold produced were all radioactive.

Gold can currently be manufactured in a nuclear reactor by irradiation either of platinum or mercury. Since platinum is more expensive than gold, platinum is economically unsuitable as a raw material.

Only the mercury isotope 196Hg, which occurs with a frequency of 0.15% in natural mercury, can be converted to gold by neutron capture, and following electron capture-decay into 197Au with slow neutrons. Other mercury isotopes are converted when irradiated with slow neutrons into one another or formed mercury isotopes, which beta decay into thallium.

Using fast neutrons, the mercury isotope 198Hg, which composes 9.97% of natural mercury, can be converted by splitting off a neutron and becoming 197Hg, which then disintegrates to stable gold. This reaction, however, possesses a smaller activation cross-section and is feasible only with un-moderated reactors.

It is also possible to eject several neutrons with very high energy into the other mercury isotopes in order to form 197Hg. However such high-energy neutrons can be produced only by particle accelerators[clarification needed].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesis_ ... om_Mercury

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For the synthesis eqn:

Mercury 198 + 6.8MeV gamma ray --) 1 neutron + Mercury 197 (half-life 2.7 days --) Gold 197 + 1 positron)

Since

"Gamma rays from radioactive decay commonly have energies of a few hundred keV, and almost always less than 10 MeV"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray

So does that mean there could be elements with radioactive decay of ~ 7 MeV gamma that could turn mercury into gold cheaply in a reasonable time frame and then separate other isotopes of mercury out that can't convert to gold by using something like this:

http://www.physorg.com/news159098428.html

or this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemica...sport_reaction

Mercury is rare in the earth's crust but a lot comes up as a byproduct of deep oil drilling.

[kunkmiester]

Mercury is also a waste from a host of other industrial processes, and is generally toxic enough to make up for it's rarity. If a process was found to convert it into useful and valuable gold, it would be a good thing.

[Ivy Matt]

Don't throw out your CFLs!

[MSimon]

Yep. Mercury is so toxic that I died from playing with it as a kid. Fun stuff. We loved to put it on pennies and put them into circulation to kill lots of other people.

Which is to say: some forms of mercury are very toxic. Some are not.

[necoras]

@MSimon

Just about all forms of mercury are toxic, given time and exposure. Mercury in a vaporous form is much more toxic because it's much easier to get a large amount into your bloodstream quickly. Rolling some mercury around in the palm of your hand is much less dangerous, but some can potentially leak through the skin, evaporate and be inhaled, or potentially stick to the skin and be ingested later.

None of this makes it as dangerous as say sarin, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing to be exposed to. The phrase "mad as a hatter" exists for a reason after all.

[D Tibbets]

Water is extreamy poisonous if handled improperly. Everything is relative and dose dependent.

As far as turning mercury into gold, the cost of an once of gold is ~ $1000, what would be the cost of producing 1 ounce of mercury derived gold? Is it $1,000,000 or $1,000,000,000 per ounce? For that matter, what is the cost of converting radiactive waste per unit of weight? If you have a bunch of neutron side products from a power plant, the economics is much different than running a powerful accelerator to exclusively transmute mercury (or lead) into gold.

Dan Tibbets

[MSimon]

@MSimon

Just about all forms of mercury are toxic, given time and exposure. Mercury in a vaporous form is much more toxic because it's much easier to get a large amount into your bloodstream quickly. Rolling some mercury around in the palm of your hand is much less dangerous, but some can potentially leak through the skin, evaporate and be inhaled, or potentially stick to the skin and be ingested later.

None of this makes it as dangerous as say sarin, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing to be exposed to. The phrase "mad as a hatter" exists for a reason after all.

Drinking 8 gallons of water in a few hours can kill you - electrolyte imbalance.

Inhaling a few ounces in a short time (under a minute) is lethal.

And old saw: "It is the dose that makes the poison."

Or as they say in medicine: "We are designed to be moderately insulted all the time. And on occasion massively insulted."

[MSimon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning

Human-generated sources such as coal plants emit approximately half of atmospheric mercury, with natural sources such as volcanoes responsible for the remainder.

Compounds of mercury tend to be much more toxic than the element itself, and organic compounds of mercury are often extremely toxic and have been implicated in causing brain and liver damage. The most dangerous mercury compound, dimethylmercury, is so toxic that even a few microliters spilled on the skin, or even a latex glove, can cause death.[24][25]

Diagnosis of elemental or inorganic mercury poisoning involves determining the history of exposure, physical findings, and an elevated body burden of mercury. Although whole blood mercury concentrations are typically less than 6 μg/L, diets rich in fish can result in blood mercury concentrations higher than 200 μg/L; it is not that useful to measure these levels for suspected cases of elemental or inorganic poisoning because of mercury's short half-life in the blood. If the exposure is chronic, urine levels can be obtained; 24-hour collections are more reliable than spot collections. It is difficult or impossible to interpret urine samples of patients undergoing chelation therapy, as the therapy itself increases mercury levels in the samples.[28]

Diagnosis of organic mercury poisoning differs in that whole-blood or hair analysis is more reliable than urinary mercury levels.[28]