Maria Girich, a Researcher of the International Best Practices Analysis Department at the Gaidar Institute, said in a commentary for RIA Novosti that producing gold from mercury at the nuclear power plants is theoretically possible. However, commercial reactors producing gold from mercury do not yet exist, thus, they can be expected in 10-20 years at best.
"Indeed, producing gold from mercury is quite possible. Chrysopoeia, that is, turning base metals into gold is a process that scientists have been working on since the time of Cleopatra. From a scientific point of view, turning mercury into gold by neutron irradiation in a reactor is possible," the expert noted, commenting on the American startup's claims about solving the alchemical problem.
However, the expert emphasized that it is necessary to take into account the costs of neutralizing the radioactivity of the gold obtained: "The gold will be radioactive after production, and it will take up to 20 years for the gold to stop emitting radiation. In general, such technology may be more expensive than conventional gold mining."