Lab Grown Gold: Why extracting Gold from mines is still preferred method over lab creation

Scientists can make gold by doing some experiments in the lab. Then when gold can be made in the lab, why is gold being extracted from the mines till now. Full analysis here

New Delhi: Gold price reaching new heights. Although quite costly, the practice of wearing gold hasn't faded, and the market demand for gold stays consistent. As the demand for gold rises, its mining is accelerating, however, the price of gold remains unaffected. Due to the increasing demand for gold, its mining is also happening rapidly, despite this, the price of gold is not decreasing at all, but do you know that the gold that is mined from the mines can also be made in the scientists lab. This is certainly unexpected, yet it is a fact.

Researchers can create gold through various experiments conducted in the laboratory. In this circumstance, do you wonder why gold is still mined when it can be produced in a lab? Why don't researchers fulfill human needs by producing gold in the laboratory?

What Composes Gold?

Before understanding how to create gold in a laboratory, it's crucial to know the composition and constituents of gold. Gold is a chemical element that contains 79 protons in every atom. In other words, an atom containing 79 protons is identified as a gold atom, and the presence of other elements within it is minimal.

How can gold be created in the laboratory?

To produce gold in the laboratory, researchers need to form an atom containing 79 protons, but this task is quite challenging. To achieve this, scientists must either isolate a proton from 80-proton mercury or add a proton to 78-proton platinum.

Isolating or merging protons is a challenging task. This can occur solely through nuclear reactions. To achieve this, researchers must establish a nuclear reactor and gather the required materials.

Why is gold mined?

To make gold in the lab, scientists need a nuclear reaction process, for which it is mandatory to set up a nuclear reactor. It's a very difficult and expensive task. Gold can be made by this process, but the cost of it cannot be compensated by selling gold. At the same time, extracting gold from mines is much easier than this and scientists have found ways to extract gold, which are very easy and cheap.