Scientists Turn Lead Into Gold at the LHC – But There’s a Catch

Researchers at Europe’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have made a groundbreaking discovery by successfully transforming lead into gold—at a rate of 89,000 atoms per second. While it sounds like a dream come true for ancient alchemists, there’s more to the story.

At the LHC, atoms are accelerated and smashed together at incredibly high speeds. In a recent experiment, scientists discovered that by stripping away three protons from a lead atom, they could create a gold atom. This transformation happens in a unique type of near-collision, rather than a direct impact.

The discovery was made by the ALICE collaboration, a team studying heavy-ion collisions. Instead of crashing lead atoms head-on, they observed what happens when the atoms narrowly miss each other. These close encounters generate intense electromagnetic fields, which can trigger the transformation of one element into another.

“It’s impressive that our detectors can handle both large collisions that produce thousands of particles and these more subtle interactions that yield only a few,” said Marco Van Leeuwen, spokesperson for the ALICE experiment.

How Much Gold Did They Make?

Between 2015 and 2018, the team produced about 86 billion gold atoms during one experimental run. Despite the impressive number, the total mass of the gold created was only about 29 picograms—less than a trillionth of a gram. To produce even the smallest piece of jewelry, you’d need billions of times more.

Although the LHC can now generate about 89,000 gold atoms every second, each atom is extremely short-lived, breaking down almost instantly. Even with recent upgrades nearly doubling the production rate, the process remains far from practical for any commercial use.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to clearly detect and study the creation of gold in this way at the LHC,” said Uliana Dmitrieva, a physicist on the ALICE team. “Thanks to ALICE’s unique Zero Degree Calorimeters (ZDCs), we were able to analyze gold production systematically for the first time.”

More Than Just Gold

While the experiment captured headlines for its alchemical twist, the real value lies in the physics. “These experiments help us better understand how particles behave,” explained team member John Jowett. “That’s critical for improving the performance of the LHC and for designing future particle accelerators.”

Jowett also noted that the results improve theoretical models of a phenomenon called electromagnetic dissociation. These models aren’t just scientifically interesting—they’re also key to managing beam losses, which are a major challenge in maintaining and upgrading particle colliders.