After eight years together, legendary soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and model/influencer Georgina Rodríguez are officially engaged — and their eye-popping diamond ring is making headlines across the globe.



Rodríguez, 31, revealed the news Monday on Instagram, posting a photo of herself wearing a colossal oval-cut diamond flanked by two smaller ovals in a platinum setting.

“Yes, I do. In this and in all my lives,” she wrote in Spanish.



Jewelry experts estimate the center stone could weigh as much as 37 carats and be valued upward of $5 million, placing it among the largest and most valuable celebrity engagement diamonds of all time.

It joins the ranks of former First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s 40.42-carat marquise diamond from shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968, singer Mariah Carey’s 35-carat emerald-cut diamond from media mogul James Packer in 2016, and starlet Elizabeth Taylor’s famed 33.19-carat Asscher-cut diamond from actor Richard Burton, also in 1968.



Ronaldo, 40, is currently the highest-paid athlete in the world, topping Forbes’ 2025 list with $275 million in annual earnings. Over the course of his storied career as a prolific goal scorer for top clubs, such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, as well as his national team, Portugal, he has surpassed $1.5 billion in total income. He's now a standout player for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Arabia league. 

The couple’s love story began in 2016 when Ronaldo met Rodríguez at a Gucci store in Madrid, where she worked as a sales assistant. They made their public debut in 2017 and have since built a family together, raising two daughters, Alana and Bella, as well as Ronaldo’s three other children. They endured tragedy in 2022 when Bella’s twin brother, Ángel, passed away during childbirth.

While Ronaldo’s fame has long been global, Rodríguez has built her own celebrity profile. The Argentine-born model has fronted campaigns for Gucci, Prada, Guess and Chanel, walked the red carpet at the 2025 Met Gala, and is a fixture in the fashion world’s front rows.

No wedding date has been announced, but fans are already speculating about what promises to be one of the year’s most talked-about celebrity ceremonies — illuminated by one history's most dazzling engagement rings.

Credits: Images via Instagram.com / georginagio.

Lucara Diamond Corp. has quietly added another colossal find to its already glittering résumé — a 2,036-carat near-gem-quality rough diamond recovered in July from the company’s famed Karowe Mine in Botswana. The discovery, revealed in the second paragraph of Lucara’s Q2 2025 earnings report, ranks as the third-largest rough diamond ever unearthed and the second-largest found in Botswana.



About the size of a baseball and weighing nearly a pound, the rough stone was recovered from processing EM/PK(S)1 kimberlite — the same ore type that has been the focus of Lucara’s Karowe Underground Project. This specific ore body has now produced seven of the world’s largest recorded natural diamonds, solidifying Karowe’s reputation as one of the most prolific diamond sources in history.



Karowe is no stranger to the record books. Of the 10 largest rough diamonds ever found, eight have come from this single Botswana mine. The list includes the following:

2,492-carat Motswedi (2024) – #2 all time
2,036-carat unnamed (2025) – #3
1,758-carat Sewelô (2019) – #4
1,476-carat unnamed (2025) – #5
1,174-carat unnamed (2021) – #6
1,111-carat Lesedi La Rona (2015) – #7
1,094-carat Seriti (2024) – #9
1,080-carat Eva Star (2023) – #10

The recovery of the new 2,036-carat stone was made possible by Lucara’s state-of-the-art X-ray transmission (XRT) technology. Installed in 2017, the system scans ore as it moves along conveyor belts, detecting diamonds based on their unique chemical signature. This process allows large, high-value stones to be identified and removed before they can be damaged by crushing equipment.

Lucara CEO William Lamb credited the technology and operational expertise for the continued string of exceptional recoveries.

“The Karowe diamond mine continues to validate its world-class status with the recovery of a second diamond exceeding 2,000 carats,” Lamb said.

The mammoth find capped off a productive quarter for Karowe. Between April and June 2025, the mine yielded 242 “Specials” — rough diamonds larger than 10.8 carats — representing 9.4% of total carats recovered. That tally included 15 stones weighing more than 100 carats, two of which exceeded 200 carats. Total Q2 production reached 85,024 carats.

Beyond its place in diamond-industry history, the 2,036-carat discovery is a reminder of the vital role Botswana plays in the global diamond trade. The country’s diamond revenues help fund infrastructure, education and healthcare, making each high-value recovery significant not just for Lucara’s shareholders, but for Botswana’s national development.

While Lucara has yet to release photographs of the 2,036-carat stone, The Jeweler Blog has created a conceptual rendering using ChatGPT and DALL·E 3 based on historical images of the 2,492-carat Motswedi and 1,758-carat Sewelô. The image accompanies this story to give readers a sense of the scale and appearance of this extraordinary diamond.

Whether it will be destined for the cutting wheel or preserved intact as a mineralogical marvel, the 2,036-carat Karowe diamond is already part of a rarefied club — and yet another sparkling testament to the mine’s status as the crown jewel of Botswana’s diamond industry.

Credits: Conceptional rendering of the 2,036-carat diamond by The Jeweler Blog using ChatGPT and DALL-E 3. Mine photo courtesy of Lucara Diamond Corp.

For 31-year-old New Yorker Micherre Fox, the road to a perfect engagement diamond didn’t lead to a jeweler’s counter, but to Arkansas’s Crater of Diamonds State Park where, against the odds, she unearthed a 2.3-carat gem on her last day of searching.



About two years ago, Fox set herself an unorthodox goal: to forgo conventional channels and, instead, secure a diamond at the source.

“I was willing to go anywhere in the world to make that happen,” she said. “I researched, and it turned out that the only place in the world to do it was right in our backyard, in Arkansas!”



With her supportive partner encouraging her mission, Fox dedicated the better part of her month-long break after earning a graduate degree to prospecting at the only public diamond-producing site where visitors can keep their finds.

“You need to be willing and able to solve… problems with hard work,” she said.



Arriving on July 8, Fox's daily searches across the park’s 37.5-acre field proved to be "daunting."

"After all the research, there's luck and there's hard work,” she said. “When you are literally picking up the dirt in your hands, no amount of research can do that for you; no amount of education can take you all the way."

At about 11 am on Tuesday, July 29 — her last scheduled day at the park — she paused near the West Drain when a flash of sparkle caught her eye. At first, she thought it might be “an iridescent, dew-covered spiderweb.” Nudging it with her boot, the shine remained.



Fox scooped up what she described as the “most diamond-y diamond” she had ever seen.

Clutching the gem in her fist, Fox raced to the park's Diamond Discovery Center, where the staff confirmed that she had found a colorless diamond weighing more than two carats. It was the third-largest diamond registered in the park so far in 2025.

Overcome with emotion, she “got on [her] knees and cried, then started laughing.”

The diamond — about the size of a human cuspid tooth, with a smooth, rounded shape and metallic luster — is typical of most Crater diamonds. The gem's blemished surface hints at its violent journey to the surface from deep within Earth’s mantle.

Fox, honoring both her and her partner’s surnames, has dubbed her find the "Fox-Ballou Diamond" and plans to set it in her engagement ring. It's not clear whether she will have her stone faceted or leave it in its natural state.

Assistant Superintendent Waymon Cox remarked that her discovery underscores how “even when putting forth your best effort, being in the right place at the right time plays a part in finding diamonds.”

Her discovery joins 366 diamonds registered at the park so far in 2025. In total, more than 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the site of Crater of Diamonds State Park since the first diamonds were discovered in 1906 by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land long before it became an Arkansas State Park in 1972.

Credits: Images courtesy of Arkansas State Parks.

Welcome to Music Friday, our weekly spotlight on songs that feature jewelry, gemstones, or precious metals in the lyrics or title. Today, we’re revisiting a witty track by country artist Jason Michael Carroll, who seals a momentous, life-changing event with a half-carat diamond ring in his 2011 single, “Numbers.”



In the song, Carroll takes a lighthearted look at how numbers — from radio frequencies to special dates — seem to surround us every day. While most are meaningless, a select few hold profound importance.

He sings, “Then three years later ‘neath a million stars / In my F-150 on her granddad’s farm / I slipped a half-carat diamond on the third finger of her left hand / And asked to be her one and only man.”

The North Carolina native was instantly drawn to the song when he first heard it.

“It was written by Patrick Davis and Rodney Clawson and it’s about the way certain numbers, like dates and times, can represent some of life’s most significant moments. Moments like your first date, meeting the love of your life and the day your child is born,” he explained. “Most numbers mean absolutely nothing, but some of them, like the date you meet the person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with, mean everything.”

“Numbers” was released in March 2011 as the title track from Carroll’s third studio album. The album charted at #33 on the Billboard US Country Albums list and was sold exclusively at Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores. It was a fitting distribution channel since Carroll got his start singing in public while working as a Cracker Barrel server in Henderson, NC.

Born in Youngsville, NC, in 1978, Carroll earned his big break at age 26 when he won the “Gimme the Mic” vocal competition hosted by local FOX affiliate WRAZ. That success led to a record deal with Arista Nashville in 2006.

Carroll is currently on tour, with performances scheduled in states across the country, including West Virginia, Florida, Alabama, California, Idaho, Michigan and Indiana.

Be sure to check out the audio track of Carroll performing “Numbers.” And if you’d like to sing along, the full lyrics are below…

“Numbers”
Written by Rodney Clawson and Patrick Davis. Performed by Jason Michael Carroll.

I’m doin’ 72 in a 65,
On I-24 in a four-wheel drive
Got a 10 o’clock on 18th Avenue

And there’s a 30% chance of rain all week
And the high today is gonna be 83
They’re playing Highway 101 on 102.5
An 18 wheeler by my side

Numbers all around, flying by, up and down,
Some as slow as Christmas coming,
Some like the speed of sound,
And we all wonder, what they mean,
The highs, the lows, the in-betweens,
Most of them mean absolutely nothing
But some of them mean everything

I met her at 9:15 on my buddy’s back porch
Shootin’ bottle rockets on July 4th
We were both 19 and she was a perfect 10

Then three years later ‘neath a million stars,
In my F-150 on her granddad’s farm,
I slipped a half-carat diamond on the third finger of her left hand
And asked to be her one and only man

Numbers all around, flying by, up and down,
Some as slow as Christmas coming,
Some like the speed of sound,
And we all wonder, what they mean,
The highs, the lows, the in-betweens,
Most of them mean absolutely nothing
But some of them mean everything

John 3:16, the Fab four,
The 50-yard line, the 13th floor,
9/11, the dirty dozen,
We’re all waiting on the Second Coming

Numbers all around, flying by, up and down,
Some as slow as Christmas coming,
Some like the speed of sound,
And we all wonder, what they mean,
The highs, the lows, the in-betweens,
Why, most of them mean absolutely nothing,
Oh most of them mean absolutely nothing,
But some of them mean everything
Oh numbers

I’m doin’ 72 in a 65,
On I-24 in a four-wheel drive
Got a 10 o’clock on 18th Avenue



Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com / JiggidyNDG.

This summer marks the 50th anniversary of amethyst being designated as Ontario’s official gemstone — a milestone being celebrated across the province, especially in the Thunder Bay region, where the vivid purple mineral holds both geological and cultural significance.



While many cultures throughout history have attributed mystical origins to amethyst, including the ancient Greeks and early Christian mystics, some First Nations traditions offer a deeply personal and spiritual explanation.

One such story tells of a young girl who became lost in the wilderness while gathering blueberries. As she cried in fear and sorrow, her tears were said to have soaked into the Earth, crystallizing into the purple quartz we now know as amethyst. This origin story imbues the stone with a connection to human emotion, memory and the sacredness of the land — resonating powerfully in a region where nature and spirit are closely intertwined.



Amethyst, a type of quartz, is typically found in hollow rock cavities called vugs, formed within ancient volcanic deposits. Ontario’s deposits — particularly those around Thunder Bay — are believed to be over a billion years old. The crystals grow in stunning hexagonal formations, ranging in color from deep purple to soft lavender and even reddish hues due to inclusions of hematite. Locals have special names for the colors — Precious Purple, Thunder Bay Lavender, Phantom Rove (red) and Black Gem.

On July 8, 1975, amethyst was adopted by the Ontario legislature as the official mineral emblem through the efforts of Minister of Natural Resources Leo Bernier. Bernier, known affectionately as the “Emperor of the North,” believed the mineral should represent the unique natural heritage of Northern Ontario. Though other options, such as sodalite, were considered, amethyst was ultimately selected for its beauty, accessibility and wide distribution across the region.

As part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations, Thunder Bay’s annual Mining Day took on an amethyst theme on June 14, featuring crystal digs, gemstone-themed treats, and educational activities. The nonprofit Mining Matters is also marking the occasion by distributing 50 free Amethyst Kits to young Earth scientists across Canada.

Visitors to Thunder Bay can experience amethyst firsthand at two popular locations. Amethyst Mine Panorama, 60 km east of the city, is Canada’s largest amethyst deposit. Family-owned and operated since the 1960s, the mine offers open-pit digging, self-guided tours, and a gift shop featuring locally crafted jewelry. Diamond Willow Amethyst Mine, located in Pearl, offers similar hands-on experiences, where guests can chisel crystals from vugs and explore the geological history of the area.

For five decades, Ontario’s official mineral has been more than just a gemstone — it’s a symbol of the province’s rich cultural history, spiritual depth and enduring natural beauty. As this anniversary unfolds, amethyst continues to shine brightly in the hearts of those who cherish it.

Credits: Amethyst crystals at the Royal Ontario Museum by David Ceballos from Madrid, España, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Map by Google Maps.

A heartwarming real-life rom-com unfolded at Philadelphia International Airport, where love took off and circled back in a full romantic loop. In late July, on a bustling day at Terminal E, beneath the now-famous “Welcome to Philadelphia” sign, Matthew Brenner got down on one knee and proposed to Lesley Venella with a marquise-cut diamond ring. It was the exact spot where they met by chance more than two years earlier.



Their story began in February 2023, when Brenner, a Northeast Philadelphia native, spotted Venella, a Florida transplant originally from New Jersey, snapping a selfie under the welcome sign. He offered to take it for her and they struck up a conversation.

“We were both waiting for our rides, kind of up against the clock,” Venella told Philadelphia’s CW affiliate WPHL. “We exchanged numbers, and I told him I’d cancel my flight back to Florida if he’d take me out the next day.”

Though both thought their airport encounter might just be a brief flirtation, something clicked. What followed was a whirlwind year and a half of cross-country visits, growing affection and a life-changing decision. Brenner sold his karate business, packed a single suitcase and relocated to Florida to be with Venella.

“When we first met, I thought, ‘She lives in Florida, I live in Philly. This is cute, maybe a fun little fling,’” Brenner recalled to WPHL. “But then as things grew, I was like, ‘Oh, wait. This person’s actually amazing.’”



When it came time to propose, Brenner knew there was only one place it could happen. He returned with Venella to Terminal E, this time not just with butterflies — but with a plan. He even arranged for a custom banner to cover the original sign, reading, “Will you marry me?”



The couple was joined by their parents and, unexpectedly, more than 100 strangers who stopped to witness the touching moment.



“[They] had their phones out—including the airport staff,” Brenner said. “Then there was this thunderous roar. I didn’t expect that. These people actually got a better view than our families.”

The engagement ring appears to feature a marquise-cut diamond flanked by matching marquise side stones on a yellow gold band — an elegant and timeless choice befitting a cinematic love story.

Their story quickly went viral, with the airport posting a video of the proposal and high-profile national media outlets, such as people.com, picking up the tale.

Said PHL in a social post, “You met as strangers in our terminal and now you’re building a life together. We are truly honored that PHL was the starting point for your love story.”

For Venella and Brenner, the baggage claim at Terminal E in Philly didn’t just deliver luggage — it delivered destiny.

Credits: Screen captures via Instagram / blackbeltbrenner1.

For centuries, one of the world's most dazzling gemstones lived in disguise. Mistaken for ruby and featured in some of the most famous crown jewels, spinel earned its nickname as “the great impostor” of gemstone history. But in 2016, this radiant gem stepped out of ruby’s shadow to become an official birthstone for the month of August, joining the yellow-green peridot and zebra-striped sardonyx.



Spinel’s rise to official birthstone status was a rare event. Since the modern birthstone list was first established in 1912 by the American National Retail Jewelers Association (now Jewelers of America), the list had only been amended a few times. So when the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and Jewelers of America announced spinel’s inclusion, it was met with excitement — and some surprise — throughout the jewelry world.

Long prized for its vibrant red hues, spinel was often indistinguishable from ruby until the late 18th century. The two share similar colors, due to the presence of chromium in their chemical makeup. However, spinel is composed of magnesium aluminum oxide, while ruby is a variety of corundum made from aluminum oxide. It wasn’t until 1783 that mineralogists formally recognized spinel as a mineral distinct from corundum.



By then, many legendary “rubies” had already found their way into royal collections. Among the most famous are the 170-carat Black Prince’s Ruby in the British Imperial State Crown, the 361-carat Timur Ruby presented to Queen Victoria in 1851, and the 398-carat gem atop the Imperial Crown of Russia. Each was later confirmed to be a red spinel.

While spinel is best known in rich reds, this versatile gem occurs in a rainbow of colors, from soft pinks and purples to fiery oranges and steely blues. In its purest form, spinel is colorless, but trace elements give rise to its kaleidoscopic variety. Blue spinels are colored by iron and cobalt, while vibrant reds are chromium-rich.



Spinel’s durability also makes it a standout gemstone for jewelry. Ranking 8.0 on the Mohs hardness scale, it is a resilient choice for everyday wear. Ruby, by comparison, rates a 9 on the hardness scale.

Today, spinel is mined in locations around the world, including Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Tanzania, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Myanmar (formerly Burma) is known for producing some of the finest pink and red spinels on the market.

Once an overlooked understudy to ruby, spinel is now getting its well-deserved moment in the spotlight — especially for those celebrating August birthdays with a gem as bold and colorful as they are.

Credits: 40.25-carat Tajikistan spinel photo by Greg Polley/Smithsonian. British Imperial State Crown by Cyril James Humphries Davenport, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Spinel crystals by Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A remarkable discovery at a Roman archaeological site in northwestern Spain is offering new insights into the aesthetic tastes, spiritual beliefs and long-distance trade practices of the ancient Romans. At the settlement of A Cibdá de Armea, archaeologists unearthed a 450-million-year-old trilobite fossil — an extinct marine arthropod — that appears to have been intentionally modified for use as jewelry between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE.



This find is historic on several fronts: It is the first confirmed instance of a trilobite fossil used as personal adornment in the Roman world and only the third known example of such usage by any ancient human population. Measuring just under 4 centimeters (about 1.5 inches), the fossil shows seven artificial wear facets on its underside — flattened areas likely created to help the piece lie flush when mounted in a bracelet or pendant. Researchers believe it may have been encased in gold, silver or leather.



Its striking reddish hue, caused by mineralization in iron oxide, helped researchers trace its origin to the Tristani Beds in the southern Central Iberian Zone, which is about 430 kilometers (267 miles) from the site. That such a small item was transported over such a vast distance suggests it held considerable value, not just as an ornament but as a symbol imbued with magical or protective powers.



According to the study, which was published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, the fossil was discovered alongside a bronze coin of Emperor Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, who ruled from 27 BCE to 14 CE. Roman historian Suetonius wrote that Augustus was fascinated by fossils. The emperor reportedly excavated them personally on the island of Capri and exhibited them in what may have been the ancient world’s first paleontological museum at his villa. His collection included what he believed were the bones of giants and mythical creatures — likely the fossils we now recognize as prehistoric remains.

The Armea trilobite offers a rare look at how the ancient Romans incorporated prehistoric objects into daily life and spiritual practice. Fossils in Roman culture were not merely geological curiosities; they were seen as talismans from a primordial world, with the power to protect or bring luck to their owners. The segmented form of the trilobite may even have inspired Roman jewelry designs in jet or black glass known as Trilobitenperlen.

Credits: Jewelry illustration courtesy of A. Fernández-Fernández et al., Archaeol Anthropol Sci (2025). AI-generated image of ancient Romans wearing trilobite jewelry by The Jeweler Blog using ChatGPT and DALL-E 3. Trilobite illustration by Віщун, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Welcome to Music Friday when we highlight new tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. In her 2025 pop single “Gold’s Gone,” 15-year-old British singer-songwriter Freya Skye delivers a poignant meditation on the passage of time and the bittersweet ache of growing up.



With the recurring lyric “running till the gold’s gone,” Skye uses gold as a shimmering metaphor for life’s most cherished moments — childhood memories, innocent joys and the feeling of time suspended.

The song opens in a nostalgic haze, as Skye recounts scenes of basement board games and swapping bracelets in the back of a car. But that dreamy simplicity soon gives way to emotional urgency. “I just wanna hold on / I’m scared of losing the moment,” she sings, echoing a universal truth — that even as we’re living in the present, we’re already mourning its passing.

The phrase “running till the gold’s gone” becomes a central motif, symbolizing the desire to outrun change and cling to what feels golden and safe. Freya captures the moment when adolescence turns the corner into something more complex and uncertain.

As the seasons shift, so does her self-image. She sings, “my heart is still the same, but in the mirror things have changed.” The gold, in this context, is not just youth, but the clarity, security and wonder that come with it.

Rising rapidly in both the music and entertainment worlds, Skye made her international debut representing the UK at Junior Eurovision 2022 with “Lose My Head,” earning the top public vote and a fifth-place finish overall.

Since then, she’s signed with Hollywood Records and Disney Music Publishing, starred as Nova in Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires and joined the upcoming "Descendants/Zombies: Worlds Collide" arena tour.

With a voice that’s both powerful and intimate, and lyrics that resonate well beyond her years, Skye is quickly emerging as one of pop’s most promising young voices. “Gold’s Gone” captures the essence of her artistry — honest, reflective and deeply relatable.

Please check out the official video of Skye performing "Gold's Gone." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Gold's Gone"
Written by Michelle Zarlenga, Annie Schindel and Lucky West. Performed by Freya Skye.

Back of your mom’s car trading bracelets
Playing board games in the basement
I could swear that it was simple, all my problems felt so little
What a daydream

If I could slow it down
Would my feet touch the ground?

I just wanna hold on
I’m scared of losing the moment
Running til the gold’s gone
The seasons change and I know it
I feel the time is slipping
And I already miss it
While I’m
Still holding light in my hands

I just wanna hold on, hold on
Running till the gold’s gone, gold’s gone

Out on the edge of on my own now
And they told me not to look down
And my heart is still the same
But in the mirror things have changed
How’d it happen?
It threw me off of my balance

I just wanna hold on
I’m scared of losing the moment
Running till the gold’s gone
The seasons change and I know it
I feel the time is slipping
And I already miss it
While I’m
Still holding light in my hands

I just wanna hold on, hold on
Running till the gold’s gone, gold’s gone

And I won’t be sleeping tonight
Oh my head’s too busy
Guess this is being alive
Tell myself to breathe
I know there’s silver linings
So I’ll hold on
Until the gold’s gone, gone

I just wanna hold on
I’m scared of losing the moment
Running til the gold’s gone
The seasons change and I know it
I feel the time is slipping
And I already miss it
While I’m
Still holding light in my hands

I just wanna hold on, hold on
Running till the gold’s gone, gold’s gone



Credits: Screen capture via YouTube.com / Freya Skye.

In Hellenistic Egypt more than 2,000 years ago, alchemists began their fabled quest to turn mercury into gold. Today, a California-based startup believes it may have finally cracked the code — using the power of nuclear fusion.



Marathon Fusion, a company developing next-generation fusion technology, has outlined a bold plan to create gold as a byproduct of clean energy generation. According to a newly released (and yet-to-be peer-reviewed) study, their reactor design could transmute mercury-198 — an abundant isotope — into gold-197, the stable form of the precious metal. (Gold and mercury happen to be next-door neighbors on the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements.)

The process takes place inside a tokamak fusion reactor, where ultra-hot plasma fuses hydrogen atoms to release vast amounts of energy. Typically, reactors are lined with lithium in what’s called a breeding blanket, designed to help generate tritium fuel.

But Marathon’s twist? Replace part of that blanket with a mercury-lithium alloy, which not only supports fusion fuel production but also absorbs high-energy neutrons. Those neutrons trigger a chain reaction that converts mercury-198 into unstable mercury-197, which decays into gold-197 within days.

In simulations, Marathon estimated that one gigawatt of fusion electricity could yield as much as 5,000 kilograms of gold. At today’s gold prices, that’s more than half a billion dollars in byproduct revenue, potentially doubling the economic viability of fusion plants.

There’s a catch, however: Freshly created gold atoms might carry trace radioactivity, requiring up to 18 years of “cooling time” before being deemed safe for commercial use. Still, the company argues that much of the world's gold sits in storage anyway, and delayed access won’t hinder its value in the long run.

Though still in the simulation phase, this proposal has captured the imagination of scientists and investors alike. If successful, it could reshape both the energy and precious metal industries of the future — replacing gold mines with clean fusion facilities, and turning modern science into the ultimate alchemy.

Credit: AI-generated image by The Jeweler Blog using ChatGPT and DALL-E 3.