Lattice Energy LLC- LENR Transmutation Networks can Produce Gold-May 19 2012

Lattice Energy LLC
Commercializing a next-generation source of valuable stable elements
May 19, 2012 Copyright 2012, Lattice Energy LLC All Rights Reserve d 1
Low Energy Neutron Reactions (LENRs)
In theory, neutron-catalyzed LENR transmutations can produce Gold
Already observed experimentally; may also occur naturally in the earth
Might process be scalable and economic; if so, what are long-term implications for Gold price?
Technical Overview
Lewis Larsen
President and CEO
Lattice Energy LLC
May 19, 2012
Stable 74W180-186
seeds
Series of
Intermediate
Isotopes
78Pt197
79Au197
+n and decays
β- decay
Example 1
Production of Gold: one possible path
Neutron-catalyzed transmutations
Stable 73Ta180-181
seeds
79Au197
+n
Neutron-catalyzed transmutations
Basic LENR transmutation reactions: e-* + p+ g n + νe
n + (Z, A) g (Z, A+1)stable or (Z, A+1)unstable
(Z, A+1)unstable g (Z+1, A+1)stable or unstable + e-
β + νe
“Facts do not cease to exist
because they are ignored.”
Aldous Huxley in
“Proper Studies” 1927
Example 2
Making Gold: another possible path
+n and decays
78Pt196
Series of
Intermediate
Isotopes
77Ir197
78Pt197
β- decay
β- decay

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 For ~65 years prior to advent of Widom-Larsen theory (WLT) of LENRs in May 2005,
physicists had universally assumed that neutron-catalyzed nuclear transmutation
reactions were only possible in the extreme environments of fission reactors, nuclear
weapon detonations, and stars. Published in peer-reviewed journals and using only
known physics, WLT integrates many-body collective quantum effects with
electroweak theory to explain how energetic nuclear processes can occur under
much milder macroscopic physical conditions; e.g., in some electric-current driven,
aqueous electrolytic chemical cells that are akin to ordinary batteries being charged
 Unaware of WLT, vast majority of astrophysicists presently believe that all elements
heavier than Iron (Fe at ~58 amu) were produced via nuclear transmutation of Fe into
successively heavier elements by two types of neutron production, capture, and
nuclear decay processes known as the s- (for slow) and r- (rapid) process,
respectively. Differing primarily in rates of neutron production (in r-process it is much
higher), the s-process is thought to occur in hot plasmas of mature red giant stars
and r-process in the hearts of exploding, violently dying stars known as supernovae.
These well-accepted types of astrophysical nucleosynthetic phenomena are really
just a form of natural stellar alchemy that creates heavier elements from lighter ones
Background on WLT and main objectives of presentation
LENRs are like astrophysical processes with key differences

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 W.R.T. neutron production rates, LENRs in condensed matter systems often fall somewhere
between the s- and r-process. Per WLT, they differ from astrophysical s- and r-processes in that
LENRs do not produce: (1) energetic keV - MeV neutrons (rather, ultra low momentum <<< sub-
thermal); (2) emit energetic gamma radiation (it is instead converted to infrared heat by heavy e-*
electrons involved in neutron production); or long-lived radioactive isotopes (neutron-rich
intermediates decay rapidly via β- decay chains into stable isotopes). Unlike the s-/r-processes,
LENR neutron-catalyzed transmutation processes operate from neutron capture on lightest
element, Hydrogen, all the way up to and beyond vastly heavier high-Z elements, e.g., Plutonium
 In various SlideShare documents, Lattice has also shown that LENRs are widespread in Nature ---
hidden in plain sight due to absence of strong radiation signatures; only mass spectroscopy sees
telltales; can occur at low rates in environs including catalytic converters, pyrolysis processes,
benzene rings, lightning, and (very likely) metabolic processes of some bacteria
 Objectives of this presentation: (1) discuss theoretical possibility of using LENR-based
transmutation processes (effectively modern nuclear alchemy) to produce Gold from much less
costly, lighter seed target elements such as Tungsten; (2) examine previously reported
experimental data which suggests that production of gold via WLT LENR transmutations has
already been observed experimentally; and (3) explore alternative methods for LENR-based gold
production using abiotic vs. bacterial systems and whether they might be cost-competitive with
mining someday
Background on WLT and main objectives of presentation
LENRs are like astrophysical processes with key differences

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Contents
LENR physics and transmutations now understood and published .............. 6
Potential market applications for LENRs ....................................…................... 7
Historical perspective ...................................................................................…… 8 - 11
Periodic table of elements .................................................................................. 12
Astrophysical thinking about nucleosynthesis in Nature................................. 13 - 14
LENRs access vast areas of neutron-rich isotopic landscape ....................… 15
Neutron capture cross-sections: LENRs vs. stars ........................................... 16 - 18
LENR Gold production traverses 6th row of Periodic Table ............................. 19
74W180-seed LENR neutron-catalyzed transmutation network ..……................ 20 - 25
Experimental data support existence of 74W180-seed network ......................... 26
Electric arc transmutations reported from 1900s to 1922 ................................ 27
Electric arc transmutations widely discussed in 1922-23 ................................ 28 - 29
Production of Gold in electric arcs reported from 1924-26 .............................. 30 - 34
Cirillo & Iorio also produced Gold from Tungsten ca. 2004 ............................. 35 - 39
New 2010-11 experiments and reports by Cirillo et al. ..................................... 39

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LENR networks occur in variety of different environments ........................... 40 - 41
Are bacteria transmuting Tungsten → Gold → Mercury? ........…................... 42 - 58
Speculative future economics of mining Gold via LENRs .............................. 59 - 64
Final thoughts and conclusions .......................………...................................... 65 - 66
Ending quotations:
Michael Faraday, laboratory journal notes (1849) ........................................ 67
“Stairway to Heaven” lyrics by Led Zeppelin (1971) .................................... 68
Contents (continued)

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Technical papers on Widom-Larsen theory
“Ultra low momentum neutron catalyzed nuclear reactions on metallic hydride surfaces”
Eur. Phys. J. C 46 pp. 107 - 112 (2006) Widom and Larsen – initially placed on arXiv in May 2005 at
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/cond-mat/pdf/0505/0505026v1.pdf; a copy of the final EPJC article can be found at:
http://www.newenergytimes.com/v2/library/2006/2006Widom-UltraLowMomentumNeutronCatalyzed.pdf
“Absorption of nuclear gamma radiation by heavy electrons on metallic hydride surfaces”
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/cond-mat/pdf/0509/0509269v1.pdf (Sept 2005) Widom and Larsen
“Nuclear abundances in metallic hydride electrodes of electrolytic chemical cells”
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/cond-mat/pdf/0602/0602472v1.pdf (Feb 2006) Widom and Larsen
“Theoretical Standard Model rates of proton to neutron conversions near metallic hydride surfaces”
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/nucl-th/pdf/0608/0608059v2.pdf (v2. Sep 2007) Widom and Larsen
“Energetic electrons and nuclear transmutations in exploding wires”
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0709/0709.1222v1.pdf (Sept 2007) Widom, Srivastava, and Larsen
“Errors in the quantum electrodynamic mass analysis of Hagelstein and Chaudhary”
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0802/0802.0466v2.pdf (Feb 2008) Widom, Srivastava, and Larsen
“High energy particles in the solar corona”
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0804/0804.2647v1.pdf (April 2008) Widom, Srivastava, and Larsen
“A primer for electro-weak induced low energy nuclear reactions,” Srivastava, Widom, and Larsen
Pramana - Journal of Physics 75 pp. 617 (2010) http://www.ias.ac.in/pramana/v75/p617/fulltext.pdf
LENR physics are understood and published

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Potential market applications for LENRs
Applications Description Target Markets
LENRs enable safe, green carbon-free
nuclear energy production and power
generation at reasonable cost -
Vastly greater energy densities and
longevity at a lower price per kWh
compared to chemical power sources
Scale-up and integrate LENR heat sources w.
different energy conversion technologies:
e.g., develop portable battery-like devices
using thermoelectrics that can convert raw
heat directly to DC electricity; or, use heat to
rotate a shaft for propulsion (e.g., Stirling or
modern steam engines in motor vehicles)
SAFE - no radiation shielding or
nuclear waste issues; could also
eventually enter portable power
markets and compete directly
against chemical batteries, small
fuel cells, and microgenerators
Bitumen extraction, heavy oil recovery,
and/or oil shale processing
According to Prof. K. Deffeyes of
Princeton University, about 2/3 of oil
remaining in the ground worldwide is
classified as “heavy”
Use well-hole LENR thermal sources to heat-
up bitumen or heavy oil underground: reduce
production costs, enhance recovery; could
use LENR heaters for in-situ underground
upgrading and downstream process heat
Major benefit to large oil
producers – can help increase
long-term supplies of oil and
reduce total production costs as
well as CO2 footprint
Develop much cleaner fission power
generation technologies
Use LENRs and ultra low momentum
neutrons (ULMs) for triggering fission
Design new types of LENR-based subcritical
fission reactors that can burn existing
fissionable fuels down to stable isotopes –
little or no long-lived radioactive wastes
Retrofit new ULM-neutron
reactors into existing nuclear
fission power systems; much
better safety and lower costs
Nuclear waste treatment
Transmute dangerous radioactive
nuclear waste using LENRs; generate
additional power from waste burn-up
Develop turnkey systems for on-site clean-up
of existing worldwide inventories of fission
wastes from nuclear power plants
Nuclear waste remediation and
clean-up – opportunities in many
countries, e.g., US, France,
Japan, China, etc.
Transmutation of stable elements
Produce almost any very valuable
element or isotope in the periodic table
at competitive costs compared to
present mining and refining operations
Use LENRs to transmute less expensive
elements into much more valuable ones –
first do it abiologically; later migrate to
methods using various species of genetically
engineered bacteria
Mostly target precious and rare
metals production, e.g.,
platinum, gold, rhodium, rare
earth elements, etc
FirstTargetsPotentialLong-termOpportunities

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Historical Perspective
1901 - Modern discovery of nuclear alchemy:
“For Mike’s sake Soddy, don’t call it transmutation.
They’ll have our heads off as alchemists.”
Comment made by Ernest Rutherford to Frederic Soddy (1901)
“In 1901, twenty-four year-old chemist Frederick
Soddy and Ernest Rutherford were attempting to
identify a mysterious gas that wafted from samples of
radioactive thorium oxide. They suspected that this
gas - they called it an ‘emanation’ - held a key to the
recently discovered phenomenon of radioactivity.
Soddy had passed the puzzling gas over a series of
powerful chemical reagents, heated white-hot. When
no reactions took place, he came to a startling
realization. As he told his biographer many years
later, ´I remember quite well standing there transfixed
as though stunned by the colossal import of the thing
and blurting out-or so it seemed at the time,
‘Rutherford, this is transmutation: the thorium is
disintegrating and transmuting itself into argon gas.’
Rutherford‘s reply was typically aware of more
practical implications.”
J. Magill, “Decay Engine” at www.nucleonica.net
"The Alchemist's Workshop" by
Jan van der Straet (1570)4
"The Alchymist in Search of the Philosophers'
Stone Discovers Phosphorous" by Joseph Wright
of Derby (1771)

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1941: “God made the neutron” [to produce Gold]
“The neutron plays a pivotal role in manmade transmutations. In the words of
Bronowski, ‘At twilight on the sixth day of Creation, so say the Hebrew commentators
to the Old Testament, God made for man a number of tools that gave him also the gift of
creation. If the commentators were alive today, they would write, ‘God made the
neutron.’ Is it far-fetched to consider the neutron to be the Stone of the Philosophers
(and atom smashers to be athanors – the furnaces of the Philosophic Egg)? Frankly,
yes. But, in 1941, fast neutrons were used to transmute mercury into a tiny quantity of
gold1. Was the age old dream realized? Would a modern day version of the Roman
Emperor Diocletian have to burn all the notebooks and journal articles and destroy the
atom smashers in order to protect the world’s currency? Well, probably not. It is likely
that an ounce of such gold would cost more than the net worth of the planet. Also, the
gold so obtained is radioactive and lives for only a few days at most. But, we are not
always logical when it comes to gold. In the words of Black Elk, a holy man of the
Oglala Lakota-Sioux on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, ‘Our people knew
there was yellow metal in little chunks up there, but they did not bother with it, because
it was not good for anything’.” 1[Sherr et al., The Physical Review 60 pp. 473 - 479 1941]
Arthur Greenberg, “From Alchemy to Chemistry in Picture and Story” pp. 571 2007

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1989: Pons & Fleischmann rediscover LENRs; mistake it for D-D fusion
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.”
Rudyard Kipling, “The Battle of East and West” (1889)
Since the inception of modern nuclear science ca. 1940s, it has been near-universally believed
that the only man-controllable nuclear processes were strong interaction fission or potentially
fusion; it was also widely held that nuclear transmutation reactions could only take place within
certain environments, e.g., in fission reactors, nuclear weapons, or stars. Pons & Fleischmann’s
1989 discovery of what appeared to be nuclear transmutation processes operating inside what
would otherwise be ordinary D2O electrolytic chemical cells thus challenged long-established
conceptual paradigms about nuclear processes. Sadly, P&F rashly speculated that their
observed radiation-free “excess heat” resulted from a D-D “cold fusion” process. As Ernest
Rutherford would undoubtedly have predicted, such an erroneous claim (coupled with
irreproducible experimental results) resulted in sustained attacks on such research by
mainstream science that have continued to the present. However, starting with the release of
our first arXiv preprint in May 2005, the Widom-Larsen theory (WLT) of LENRs has shown, using
known physics, how energetic nuclear reactions can in fact take place in ordinary chemical
cells. According to WLT, key aspects of LENRs involve weak interactions that can occur in a
variety of different environments under relatively mild physical conditions. Our theory posits
that in condensed matter systems, many-body collective effects allow the otherwise disparate
chemical and nuclear energy realms to interconnect in special, micron-scale regions on
surfaces, thus enabling neutron-catalyzed transmutation networks in condensed matter.

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“Alchemy, derived from the Arabic word ‘al-kimia’ is both a philosophy and
an ancient practice focused on the attempt to change base metals into gold,
investigating the preparation of the ‘elixir of longevity’, and achieving
ultimate wisdom, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the
making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties.
The practical aspect of alchemy generated the basics of modern inorganic
chemistry, namely concerning procedures, equipment and the identification
and use of many current substances. Alchemy has been practiced in
ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), India (modern Indian
subcontinent), Persia (modern Iran), China, Japan, Korea, the classical
Greco-Roman world, the medieval Islamic world, and then medieval Europe
up to the 20th century, in a complex network of schools and philosophical
systems spanning at least 2,500 years.”
Source for above quote: Wikipedia article as of July 7, 2010
According to the WLT, LENRs and chemistry intersect on nm - μ
length-scales in condensed matter systems under comparatively
‘mild’ conditions compared to interiors of stars, nuclear weapons,
and fuel rods of operating fission reactors. Production of gold
from lower-Z elements such as Tungsten (W) is not just some
alchemist’s fevered delusion. It is an understandable result of ULM
neutron-captures on W and subsequent beta decays, both of
which are presently well-accepted in mainstream nuclear science
Popular Science magazine, March 1948
2012 - WLT’s modern alchemy based on well-accepted nuclear science
US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) produced Gold

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Astrophysical thinking about nucleosynthesis in Nature
Here is how astrophysicists now think the s-/r-processes work in stars
Source: Fig. 2 in “Nuclear masses and the origin of the elements,” H. Schatz & K. Blaum in Europhysics News 5 pp. 16-21 (2006)
http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/blaum/files/publications/precision-experiments/EurophysicsNews_num5_vol37_16-21.pdf
Quoting:
“The s-process:
During the s-process
neutron captures are in
most cases much slower
than beta decays.
Radioactive isotopes
formed after a neutron
capture decay quickly into
stable nuclei before the
next neutron is captured.
The s-process proceeds
therefore along the so
called valley of stability
(Fig. 2) and crosses the N =
82 and N = 126
neutron shells at stable nuclei
with mass numbers A = 138
(barium) and A = 208 (lead).
The abundance maxima
created by the s-process at
these locations can be readily
identified in Fig. 1. From the
observation of technetium,
which is an element without a
stable isotope, on the
surface of red giant stars
the ongoing operation of
the s-process has been
demonstrated and the
astrophysical site has been
identified unambiguously. “
Quoting:
“The r-process
The r-process is responsible
for the origin of about half of
the heavy elements beyond
iron. Elements such as
europium, gold, platinum, or
uranium are mainly
produced in the r-process
... Obviously the neutron
densities during the r-
process are so large that
neutron captures are much
faster than beta decays so
that extremely beta
unstable nuclei can be
formed.
After their creation in the r-
process these nuclei are
converted into stable nuclei
through a long chain of beta
decays. In some cases these
beta decays can emit
neutrons, so the
mass number of the final
stable nucleus tends to be
slightly lower than the mass
number of the nucleus formed
originally in the r-process, an
effect which we neglected in
our simple argument above.”
For a nice animation see:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm
?id=gal-yam-how-large-stars-die

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Astrophysical thinking about Gold production in Nature
Here is how one astrophysicist now thinks the process works in stars
Source: Slide #20 in “How to make Gold,” Prof. Hendrik Schatz, Michigan State Univ.
http://www.nscl.msu.edu/files/Schatz03.ppt

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Region of neutron-catalyzed transmutation pathways discussed herein
Green nuclear process typically traverses rows of the Periodic Table
LENRs access vast areas of isotopic landscape
In this presentation, we will be
discussing a theoretical LENR
neutron-catalyzed nucleosynthetic
network (yellow arrow) that begins
in the region of Tantalum (Ta) and
Tungsten (W) seeds, produces
stable Gold (79Au197) and can
extend to higher-Z elements as far
as Lead (Pb) and Bismuth (83Bi209)

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Neutron capture cross-sections: LENRs vs. stars
Condensed matter LENR neutrons are at much lower energies vs. stars
Measured neutron cross section of Boron (top curve
is for 10B and bottom curve for 11B isotope)
Example of ~1/v rule: neutron capture cross-section
measured in barns vs. incident neutron energy in eV
Quoting from Wikipedia article: “The absorption neutron cross-
section of an isotope of a chemical element is the effective cross
sectional area that an atom of that isotope presents to absorption,
and is a measure of the probability of neutron capture. It is usually
measured in barns (b).”
“Absorption cross section is often highly dependent on neutron
energy. Two of the most commonly specified measures are the
cross-section for thermal neutron absorption, and resonance
integral which considers the contribution of absorption peaks at
certain neutron energies specific to a particular nuclide, usually
above thermal range, but encountered as neutron
moderation slows neutrons down from original high energies.”
Comparative rates of neutron production fluxes:
 Est. s-process ~105 to 1011 cm2/sec; r-process >1022 cm2/sec
 Well-performing LENR systems range from ~109 to 1016
cm2/sec
LENR neutrons at << lower energy so >> capture cross-sections:
Neutrons produced by nuclear reactions in hot stellar plasmas usually
have kinetic energies in the range of keVs to MeVs; neutrons made in
condensed matter WLT collective many-body LENRs are typically
produced at energies vastly below thermalized neutrons (which are
themselves at energies of ~0.025 eV which corresponds to a
temperature of ~290o Kelvin)
Consequently, as a result of the so-called 1/v rule (see discussion and
example at right) capture cross-sections for LENR neutrons in
condensed matter systems will necessarily be much higher than what
occurs in astrophysical s-/r-processes
Unlike stars, photodissociation or photonuclear reactions by energetic
gammas ranging from ~0.5 up to ~10.0 MeV that can knock-off loosely
bound halo neutrons from unstable, extremely neutron-rich nuclei
(thus hampering their quickly reaching higher values of A) are not
much of an issue in condensed matter LENR transmutation networks,
thanks to local gamma conversion a la WLT to infrared photons by
heavy e-* electrons

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Condensed matter LENR neutrons are at much lower energies vs. stars
 Unlike energetic neutrons produced in most nuclear reactions,
collectively produced LENR neutrons are effectively standing
still at the moment of their creation in condensed matter. Since
they are vastly below thermal energies (ultra low momentum),
ULM neutrons have huge DeBroglie wavelengths (from nm to
~100 microns) and accordingly large capture cross-sections on
nearby nuclei; most or all will be locally absorbed; few will be
detectable as free neutrons traveling alone outside of nuclei
 For the vast majority of stable and unstable isotopes, their
neutron capture cross-section (relative to measurements of
cross-sections at thermal energies where v = 2,200 m/sec and
neutron DeBroglie wavelength is ~2 Angstroms) is proportional
to ~1/v, where v is velocity of a neutron in m/sec. Since v is
extraordinarily small for ULM neutrons, their capture cross-
sections on atomic nuclei will therefore be correspondingly
larger. After being collectively created, an enormous
percentage of the ULMNs produced will be locally absorbed
before scattering on nearby atoms can elevate them to thermal
kinetic energies; per Prof. S. Lamoreaux (Yale) thermalization
would require ~0.1 to 0.2 msec, i.e. 10-4 sec., a very long time
on typical 10-12 - 10-19 sec. time-scale of many nuclear reactions
Please note: ultra low momentum (ULM)
neutrons have enormous absorption
cross-sections on 1/v isotopes. For
example, Lattice has estimated the
ULMN fission capture cross-section on
U-235 to be ~1 million barns (b) and on
Pu-239 at 49,000 b, vs. ~586 b and ~752
b, respectively, for ‘typical’ neutrons at
thermal energies
A neutron capture expert recently
estimated the ULMN capture cross-
section on He-4 at ~20,000 b vs. a value
of <1 b for thermal neutrons; this is a
very large increase
By comparison, the highest known
thermal n capture cross section for any
stable isotope is Gadolinium-157 at
~49,000 b
The highest measured cross-section for
any unstable isotope is Xenon-135 at
~2.7 million b
Crucial technical point: ULMNs have
many-body scattering, NOT 2-3 body
scattering as, for example, in stellar
plasmas or thermalized neutrons
traveling through condensed matter

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Isotopic landscape showing thermal neutron capture cross-sections
Source: http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/chart/reColor.jsp?newColor=sigg
Note: only small percentage of neutron capture cross-sections of the large array of
possible isotopes have ever been measured in the laboratory at thermal energies
In this presentation, we will be
discussing a theoretical LENR
neutron-catalyzed nucleosynthetic
network that begins in the region
of Tantalum (Ta) and Tungsten (W)
seeds, produces stable Gold
(79Au197) and can extend to higher-
Z elements as far as Lead (Pb) and
Bismuth (83Bi209)

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LENR Gold production traverses 6th row of Periodic Table
Begins w. stable W or Ta seeds and extends to Pb and Bismuth (83Bi209)
Pathway of LENR network indicated by yellow arrow
Platinum (Pt) and Gold (Au)

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74W180-seed LENR neutron-catalyzed transmutation network
Theoretical description of nucleosynthetic network for Gold
 We will now examine a hypothetical LENR transmutation network that begins with
neutron captures on Tantalum (Ta) and Tungsten (W) seeds
 Explanatory legend for network diagrams appears on the next PowerPoint slide
 74W180-seed network produces Gold (Au) and Platinum (Pt); if sufficiently high
neutron fluxes are maintained for enough time, it can reach Bismuth (Bi)
 While unstable intermediate network products undergo nuclear decays, their half-
lives are generally short (especially those that are much more neutron-rich); this
LENR network does not produce copious, dangerous long-lived radioactive isotopes
 According to the WLT, in condensed matter systems LENRs occur in many tiny nm-
to micron-scale surface sites or patches that only survive for several hundred
nanoseconds before they die; such tiny sites can form and re-form spontaneously
 Must have enough input energy to make neutrons that catalyze LENR transmutations
 In following sections, we will discuss compelling experimental evidence that this
nucleosynthetic network in fact occurs both in the laboratory and out in Nature

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Neutron capture and nuclear decay processes:
ULM neutron captures proceed from left to right except for upper-left corner; Q-value of capture reaction (MeV) in
green either above or below horizontal arrow.
Beta- (β-) decays proceed from top to bottom; denoted with bright blue vertical arrow pointing down with Q-value
(MeV) in blue either to left or right; beta+ (β+) decays are denoted with yellow arrow pointing upward to row above
Alpha decays, indicated with orange arrows, proceed mostly from right to left at an angle with Q-value (MeV) shown
in orange located on either side of the process arrow.
Electron captures (e.c.) indicated by purple vertical arrow; Q-value (MeV) to left or right.
Note: to reduce visual clutter in the network diagram, gamma emissions (converted to infrared photons by heavy e-*
electrons) are not shown; similarly, except where specifically listed because a given branch cross-section is
significant, beta-delayed decays also generally not shown; BR means “branching ratio” if >1 decay alternative
Color coded half-lives:
When known, half-lives shown as “HL = xx”. Stable and quasi-stable isotopes (i.e., those with half-lives > or equal to
107 years) indicated by green boxes; isotopes with half-lives < 107 but > than or equal to 103 years indicated by light
blue; those with half-lives < than 103 years but > or equal to 1 day are denoted by purplish boxes; half-lives of < 1 day
in yellow; with regard to half-life, notation “? nm” means isotope has been verified by HL has not been measured
Measured natural terrestrial abundances for stable isotopes:
Indicated with % symbol; note that 83Bi209 = 100% (essentially ~stable with half-life = 1.9 x 1019 yrs); 82Pb-205 ~stable
with HL= 1.5 x107 yrs;
Legend:

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Please note: once created, the process of capturing an LENR ULM neutron on a nearby atom
occurs very quickly; on the order of picoseconds, i.e., 0.000000000001 sec., i.e., 10-12 sec, which
is much faster than any of the various nuclear decays found in this particular LENR network.
Moreover, in case of condensed matter LENRs, while their neutron production rates are probably
significantly lower than the r-process, LENR neutron capture cross-sections are vastly higher than
those in stellar environments; on balance it’s essentially ‘a wash’, so LENRs can effectively mimic
the r-process. Thus, isotopes in LENRs can potentially capture additional neutrons (i.e., become
more neutron-rich isotopes of the same element) before beta decay transmutes them into other
higher-Z elements found in the Periodic Table. This is why the hot astrophysical r-process can
make heavier elements than hot s-process (i.e., go beyond Bismuth): with much higher produced
neutron fluxes, the r-process can successfully traverse and bridge key regions of very short-lived
isotopes that are found in ultra-neutron-rich, high-Z reaches of vast nuclear isotopic landscape
Network may potentially continue upward to even higher values of A;
This depends on ULM neutron flux in cm2/sec
75Re-185
Stable 37.4%
75Re-186
HL = 3.7 days
76Os-186
Stable 1.58%
6.2
6.3
IncreasingvaluesofZ
73Ta-181
Stable 99.9+%
73Ta-182
HL = 114 days
73Ta-184
HL = 8.6 hrs
73Ta-185
HL = 49.3 min
7.46.9 5.6
74W-180
Stable 0.12%
74W-182
Stable 26.5%
74W-183
Stable 14.3 %
74W-184
Stable 30.6%
74W-185
HL = 75.1 days
8.1 6.2 5.8
73Ta-183
HL = 5.1 days
74W-186
Stable 28.4%
Increasing values of A
6.1
6.7 7.4 7.2 5.5
7.4
1.8 1.1 2.9 2.0
5.4
73Ta-186
HL = 10.5 min
3.9
6.2
433 keV
1.1 BR 92.5%
7.2
74W-181
HL = 121 days
ε 188 keV BR = 100%
ε 579 keV BR = 7.5%
Alternatively, one could
start with 73Ta181 seed
Tungsten
It should also be noted that all of the many atoms located within a 3-D region of space that encompasses a given ULM
neutron’s spatially extended DeBroglie wave function (whose dimensions can range from 2 nm to 100 microns) will compete
with each other to capture such neutrons. ULM neutron capture is thus a decidedly many-body scattering process, not few-
body scattering such as that which characterizes capture of neutrons at thermal energies in condensed matter in which the
DeBroglie wave function of a thermal neutron is on the order of ~ 2 Angstroms. This explains why vast majority of produced
neutrons are captured locally and are only rarely detected at any energies during course of LENR experiments; it also clearly
explains why human-lethal MeV-energy neutron fluxes are characteristically not produced in condensed matter LENR systems

Lattice Energy LLC
75Re-188
HL = 17 hrs
76Os-188
Stable 13.3%
6.8
5.9
74W-187
HL = 23.7 hrs
75Re-187
~Stable 1010 yrs
ULM Neutron
Capture
Ends on Ta
Dotted green arrow denotes ULMN capture products
coming from lower values of A
75Re-190
HL = 3.2 min
75Re-189
HL = 1 day
76Os-189
Stable 16.1%
76Os-191
HL = 15.4 days
76Os-190
Stable 26.4%
76Os-192
~Stable 41.0%
76Os-193
HL = 1.3 days
76Os-194
HL = 6.0 yrs
77Ir-191
Stable 37.3%
77Ir-193
Stable 62.7%
77Ir-194
HL = 19.3 hrs
78Pt-192
Stable 0.79%
78Pt-193
HL = 51 yrs
78Pt-194
Stable 32.9%
4.9
7.0 5.7 6.9
8.0
6.2
6.3 8.4 6.1
1.8
1.6
IncreasingvaluesofZ
Network may potentially continue ‘upward’ to even higher values of A;
73Ta-187
HL = 1.7 min
75Re-192
HL = 16 sec
75Re-193
HL = 30 sec
75Re-194
H L = 2 sec
74W-190
HL = 30 min
74W-191
HL = 20 sec
6.3
5.5
6.2
7.4
5.1
74W-189
HL = 11.6 min
74W-188
HL = 69.8 days
76Os-187
Stable 1.6%
75Re-191
HL = 9.8 min
ULM Neutron
Capture
Ends on W
ULM Neutron
Capture
Ends on Re
3.1
6.9 4.9
5.4 6.7 5.3
7.85.9 5.8 7.6 5.6 7.1 5.3
7.8 6.1
1.5 BR 95.1%
1.0 3.1 2.1 4.2 3.1
313 keV BR 100%
2..1
73Ta-189
HL = 3 sec
73Ta-190
HL= 3 x 102 msec
73Ta-188
HL = 20 sec
4.9 3.7 5.6
74W-192
HL = 10 sec
ε 1..1 BR = 4.9%
77Ir-192
HL = 73.8 days
1.1
ε 57 keV BR = 100%
1.3 349 keV 2.5 1.3 3.2 2.1
4.9
97 keV
2.2
7.2
6.1 4.9
6.7
As shown in these network charts, more neutron-rich, unstable
beta-decaying isotopes tend to have more energetic decays and
shorter half-lives. Electric current-driven LENR ULM neutron
production and capture processes can occur at much faster rates
than decay rates of beta-/e.c.-unstable isotopes in this network.
Thus, if local ULM neutron production rates in a patch are high enough, large
differences in rates of beta decay vs. neutron capture processes allows largish
populations of unstable, very neutron-rich isotopes to accumulate locally during
~300 nanosec lifetime of an LENR-active patch, prior to its being destroyed

Lattice Energy LLC
76Os-196
HL = 34.8 min
77Ir-196
HL = 52 sec
78Pt-196
Stable 25.3%
6.776Os-195
HL = 6.5 min
77Ir-195
HL = 2.5 hrs
77Ir-199
HL = 20 sec
77Ir-198
HL = 8 sec
78Pt-197
HL = 19.9 hrs
78Pt-199
HL = 30.8 min
78Pt-198
Stable 7.2%
78Pt-200
HL = 13 hrs
79Au-197
Stable 100%
79Au-199
HL = 3.1 days
79Au-200
HL = 48 min
79Au-201
HL = 27 min
5.8 6.9 5.6 6.9
5.9 7.6 5.6 7.3 5.2 6.9
6.5 7.6 6.3 7.2 6.1 6.8
2.0
1.3
0.6
1.7 666 keV 2.7 1.8
IncreasingvaluesofZ
Network may potentially continue ‘upward’ to even higher values of A;
78Pt-195
Stable 33.8%
ULM Neutron
Capture
Ends on Ir
5.3
7.2
6.1 78Pt-202
HL = 1.9 days
79Au-202
HL = 28.8 sec
ULM Neutron
Capture
Ends on Os
80Hg-198
Stable 9.8%
80Hg-199
Stable 16.9%
80Hg-201
Stable 13.2%
80Hg-200
Stable 23.1%
80Hg-202
Stable 29.9%
79Au-198
HL = 2.7 days
78Pt-201
HL = 2.5 min
1.4 452 keV
719 keV
1.32.2 3.0
77Ir-197
HL = 5.8 min
2.2 4.1 3.0
1.2
1.1 3.2
6.7 8.0 6.2 7.8 6.0
7.9
ULM Neutron
Capture
Ends on Pt
80Hg-196
Stable 0.15%
80Hg-197
HL = 2.7 days
ε 600 keV BR = 100%
6.8 8.5
Please note that: Q-value for neutron capture on a given beta-unstable isotope is often larger than the Q-value for the alternative β-
decay pathway, so in addition to being a faster process than beta decay it can also be energetically more favorable. This can also
contribute to creating fleeting yet substantial local populations of short-lived, neutron-rich isotopes. There is indirect experimental
evidence that such neutron-rich isotopes can be produced in complex ULM neutron-catalyzed LENR nucleosynthetic (transmutation)
networks that set-up and operate during brief lifetime of an LENR-active patch; see Carbon-seed network on Slides # 11 - 12 and esp.
on Slide #55 in http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/lattice-energy-llctechnical-overviewcarbon-seed-lenr-networkssept-3-2009

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79Au-204
HL = 39.8 sec
80Hg-204
Stable 6.9%
81Tl-204
HL=3.8 yrs
82Pb-204
Stable 1.4%
5.7
7.5
81Tl-203
Stable 29.5%
80Hg-206
HL = 8.2 min
80Hg-205
HL = 5.2 min
80Hg-207
HL = 2.8 min
81Tl-205
Stable 70.5%
81Tl-207
HL = 4.8 min
81Tl-206
HL = 4.2 min
81Tl-208
HL = 3.1 min
81Tl-209
HL = 2.2 min
81Tl-210
HL = 1.3 min
82Pb-205
HL= 1.5 x 107 yrs
82Pb-207
Stable 22.1%
82Pb-206
Stable 24.1%
82Pb-208
Stable 52.4%
83Bi-209
~Stable 100%
2.1
5.7 6.7 3.3
6.7 7.6 6.5 6.9 3.8 5.0 3.7
6.7 8.1 6.7 7.4 3.9 5.2 3.8
4.6
5.1
1.3
644 keV
IncreasingvaluesofZ
Network may potentially continue upward to even higher values of A;
80Hg-208
HL = 42 min
ULM Neutron
Capture
Ends on Au
ULM Neutron
Capture
Ends on Hg
6.8
6.0 80Hg-203
HL= 46.6 days
82Pb-209
HL = 3.3 hrs
82Pb-210
HL= 22.2 yrs
6.1
79Au-205
HL = 31 sec
80Hg-209
HL = 37 sec
80Hg-210
HL = 10 min
492 keV
344 keV BR 2.9%
ε 344 keV BR = 97.1%
79Au-203
HL= 53 sec
4.9
ε 51 keV BR = 100%
63 keV BR 99.9%
1.41.5 5.0 4.0 5.5
3.9 3.5
84Po-210
HL= 138 days
83Bi-210
HL= 5 days
1.2 BR 99.9%
1.5 1.3 4.8 3.7 5.3 4.1
4.9 3.3 4.8
Beginning with so-called seed or target starting nuclei upon which ULM neutron
captures are initiated, complex, very dynamically changing LENR nucleosynthetic
networks are established in tiny LENR-active patches. These ULM neutron-catalyzed
LENR networks exist for lifetimes of the particular patches in which they were created;
except for any still-decaying transmutation products that may linger, such networks
typically die along with the LENR-active patch that originally gave birth to them. Seed
nuclei for such networks can comprise any atoms in a substrate underlying an LENR-
active patch and/or include atoms located nearby in various types of surface
nanoparticles or nanostructures that are electromagnetically connected to a patch

Lattice Energy LLC
Experimental data supports existence of 74W180-seed network
 From early 1900s through the late 1920s there were significant numbers
of credible reports that were published in preeminent, international
peer-reviewed journals that claimed to have observed clear-cut
transmutation of elements in a variety of different experimental systems
 This body of experimental work and publications involved some of the
most famous scientists of that era; was accompanied by a spirited
professional debate in major scientific journals about what was then a
new subject of transmutations; quantum mechanics and atomic physics
were also aborning in wake of Einstein’s three seminal papers in 1905
 No theory was then available that could explain these enigmatic results;
huge worldwide controversy swirled around later experiments of Paneth
& Peters (Germany), "The Transmutation of Hydrogen into Helium,”
Nature 119 pp. 706 - 707 (1927 - which in hindsight and with benefit of
WLT was probably correct work) and Miethe & Stammreich (Germany),
“The reported transmutation of Mercury into Gold,” Nature 114 pp. 197 -
198 (1924 - their data was irreproducible and very likely wrong) which
apparently cast doubt on all such work. Oddly, majority of this work
appears to have died-out before Chadwick discovered neutron in 1932
 After selectively reviewing some of these early reports, we will further
discuss published data from modern era which also strongly indicates
that 74W180-seed network occurs both in the laboratory and in Nature
Reports of transmutations published episodically since early 1900s
“Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer”
Michael White
Helix Books (Perseus Books Group), 1999
ISBN-10: 0738 0143X; ISBN-13: 978-
09738201436 (paperback) 402 pp.
Newton: one of the last great alchemists

Lattice Energy LLC
Electric arc transmutations reported from 1900s - 1922
Famous British scientists in early 1900s; then Wendt & Irion (USA 1922)
 Early 1900s: from about 1905 - 1927 some of the most
famous people in British science (J.J. Thomson, Ramsay,
etc.) published a number of experimental reports in
premier refereed journals, e.g., Nature, Proceedings of the
Royal Society that, when viewed through the lens of WLT
clearly described LENR transmutation products that were
observed spectroscopically during electrical discharge
experiments, e.g., high-current arcs in various gases
 1922: Wendt & Irion, two chemists at the University of
Chicago, reported results of experiments consisting of
exploding tungsten wires with a high-current electric arc
under a vacuum inside of flexible sealed glass “bulbs”.
Controversy erupted when they claimed to observe
anomalous helium inside sealed bulbs after the tungsten
wires were exploded, suggesting that transmutation of
hydrogen into helium had somehow occurred during the
"disintegration of tungsten." Their article in Amer. Chem.
Soc. 44 (1922) triggered a response from the scientific
establishment in the form of a negative critique of Wendt
and Irion's work by Sir Ernest Rutherford that promptly
published in Nature 109 pp. 418 (1922). We have since
determined that Rutherford was wrong – see our preprint
Please see:
J. J. Thomson (who discovered the electron in
1897), “On the appearance of Helium and Neon
in vacuum tubes,” where he says, “At the last
meeting of the Chemical society, William
Ramsay … describes some experiments which
they regard as proving the transmutation of
other elements into Helium and Neon …”
Nature 90 pp. 645 - 647 1913
Quoting:
"The energy produced by breaking down the
atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who
expects a source of power from the
transformations of these atoms is talking
moonshine.“ --- Ernest Rutherford, 1933
More recently, see our 2007 arXiv preprint:
“Energetic electrons and nuclear
transmutations in exploding wires” in which
we state that, “It is presently clear that nuclear
transmutations can occur under a much wider
range of physical conditions than was
heretofore thought possible.”
arXiv:nucl-th/0709.1222 Widom, Srivastava,
and Larsen 2007

Lattice Energy LLC
Electric arc transmutations widely discussed in 1922-23
Wendt & Irion (U. of Chicago) and Millikan (U. of C. and Caltech - USA)
 1922 - 1923: after reporting on their experiments at
regional American Chemical Society meeting at
Northwestern Univ. (Evanston, IL), widespread global
media coverage quickly spread and erupted in the
form of scores of breathless newspaper headlines
about “transmutations of elements"
 These sensational newspaper stories prompted a
critical response from Rutherford that was promptly
published in Nature. Being a giant of physics, Ernest
Rutherford handily won the contemporary debate
over their controversial experimental results: he was
believed. Wendt & Irion, mere chemists and
comparative nobodies from the University of
Chicago, were not. After 1923, Wendt and Irion
abandoned their exploding wire experiments and
turned to other lines of research. Sadly, Wendt died a
few years later; Irion left U. of C to teach chemistry at
Iowa college; further work on exploding wires was
more-or-less moribund in USA for 20 years thereafter
Please see original publications
from 1922 as follows:
(1.) Wendt & Irion's seminal paper,
"Experimental Attempts to
Decompose Tungsten at High
Temperatures," from the American
Chemical Society 44 (1922)
(2.) Rutherford's critical comments
about their work in Nature 109 pp.
418 (1922) - also reprinted with
permission in Science
(3.) Wendt's subsequent response
to Rutherford in Science 55 pp. 567
(1922)
For readers’ convenience, all three
original documents have been
combined into a single Adobe
Acrobat file that can be downloaded
free from the following URL:
http://www.newenergytimes.com/v2/
library/1900s/1922Wendt-Irion.pdf

Lattice Energy LLC
Electric arc transmutations widely discussed in 1922-23
Wendt & Irion (U. of Chicago) and Millikan (U. of C. and Caltech - USA)
 1923: note that transmutations were not considered fringe
science during the 1920s. Au contraire, there was a lively
back-and-forth global debate on the subject involving the
preeminent scientists of that era. For example, in a
Scribner’s magazine article published in 1923, Prof. Robert
Millikan (U. of Chicago, Nobel prize in physics, 1923) said,
“As early as 1912, Dr. Winchester and I thought we had good
evidence that we were knocking hydrogen out of aluminum
and other metals by very powerful electric discharges in
vacuo … How much farther can we go in this artificial
transmutation of elements? This is one of the supremely
interesting problems of modern physics upon which we are
all assiduously working.” (at that point Millikan was setting-
up a high voltage laboratory at Caltech to test those ideas)
 Inexplicably, intense debate about triggering transmutations
ended quietly without any resolution before the neutron's
existence was verified experimentally by Chadwick (1932)
1927: see work by one of Millikan’s
graduate students:
“The Transmutation of Elements”
Lars Thomassen
Ph.D. Thesis, Caltech
August 1927 [22 pages]
http://thesis.library.caltech.edu/843
/1/Thomassen_l_1927.pdf
Shorter version of Thomassen’s
thesis was eventually published as
a peer-reviewed journal paper:
“Transmutation of Elements”
L. Thomassen
Physical Review 33 pp. 229 - 238
(1929)

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“The [high-current electric arc] experimental procedure here sketched cannot be looked upon as
the only one for effecting transmutation [of other elements into Gold]; probably different
processes will be developed and finally lead to industrial enterprises … Experiments with various
elements may lead to different transmutations, which will be of significance to science and
industry. Meagre as is the result, I wish to invite the attention of those interested in the subject so
that they may repeat the experiment with more powerful means than are available in the Far East.”
Prof. Hantaro Nagaoka in “Letters to the Editor,” Nature, July 18, 1925
Production of Gold in electric arcs reported from 1924-26
Prof. Hantaro Nagaoka, famous Japanese physicist (1865 - 1950)
A brilliant, visionary man far ahead of his own time

Lattice Energy LLC
Electric discharge with Hg in transformer oil: Nagaoka (Japan)
 Unlike, the comparatively unknown Wendt & Irion team at Univ.
of Chicago, Nagaoka was a world-renowned physicist and one of
the most preeminent scientists in Japan when he began his high-
current discharge transmutation experiments in September 1924
For a sense of Hantaro’s high scientific stature, please see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hantaro_Nagaoka
 Nagaoka was contemporary competitor of Ernest Rutherford;
Hantaro’s “Saturn model” of the atom was only competing model
cited by Rutherford in his seminal 1911 paper on atomic nuclei
 Given the very international character of science even at that
time, it is reasonable to presume that Prof. Nagaoka was aware of
worldwide controversy swirling around Wendt & Irion’s exploding
wire experiments and of Rutherford's short but extremely
devastating critical attack on them that was published in Nature
 Very likely that Hantaro was well-aware of Robert Millikan’s very
favorable opinions on subject of triggering transmutations with
electric arcs (BTW Millikan had just won a Nobel prize in physics)
 Nagaoka also probably knew about Miethe & Stammreich’s work
in Germany; they claimed to have changed Mercury into Gold in a
high-voltage Mercury vapor lamp, “The reported transmutation of
Mercury into Gold,” Nature 114 pp. 197 - 198 (1924)
Please see:
“Preliminary note on the transmutation of Mercury into
Gold,” H. Nagaoka, Nature 116 pp. 95 -96 (18 July 1925)
Available for purchase on Nature archives at:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v116/n2907/abs/1
16095a0.html
Abstract:
"The experiment on the transmutation of mercury was
begun in September 1924, with the assistance of Messrs.
Y. Sugiura, T. Asada and T. Machida. The main object
was to ascertain if the view which we expressed in
NATURE of March 29, 1924, can be realised by applying
an intense electric field to mercury atoms. Another
object was to find if the radio-active changes can be
accelerated by artificial means. From the outset it was
clear that a field of many million volts/cm. is necessary
for the purpose. From our observation on the Stark
effect in arcs of different metals (Jap. Journ. Phys., vol.
3, pp. 45â€“73) we found that with silver globules the
field in a narrow space very near the metal was nearly 2
Ã -105 volts/cm. with terminal voltage of about 140. The
presence of such an intense field indicated the
possibility of obtaining the desired strength of the field
for transmutation, if sufficient terminal voltage be
applied. Though the above ratio of magnification would
be diminished with high voltage, the experiment was
thought worth trying, even if we could not effect the
transmutation with the apparatus at hand."

Lattice Energy LLC
Essence of Prof. Nagaoka’s brilliant experiments:
 In simplest terms, Prof. Nagaoka created a powerful electric arc discharge
between a spark gap comprising two metallic, Thorium-oxide-free Tungsten
(W) electrodes (supplied by Tokyo Electric Company) bathed in a dielectric
liquid “paraffin” (today referred to as “transformer oil” with general formula
CnH2n+2) that was ‘laced’ with liquid Mercury (Hg)
 Depending on experiment, arcing between Tungsten electrodes in oil was
continued for 4 - 15 hours until, quoting, “ … the oil and mercury were mixed
into a black pasty mass.” Please note that Mercury readily forms amalgams
with many different metals, including Gold (Au) and Tungsten (W)
 Small flecks of Gold were sometimes quite visible to the naked eye in “black
masses” produced at the end of a given experiment. They also noted that,
“The Gold obtained from Mercury seems to be mostly adsorbed to Carbon.”
 Microscopic assays were conducted by “heating small pieces of glass with
the Carbon,” to form a so-called “Ruby glass” that can be used to infer the
presence of gold colloids from visual cues very apparent under a microscope
 Critics complained about the possibility that the Gold observed was some
sort of “contamination.” Responding to critics, Nagaoka et al. further purified
literally everything they could think of and also made certain that the lab
environs were squeaky clean; they still kept seeing anomalous Gold. In some
experiments they also observed, “a minute quantity of white metal.” Two
years later in 1926, Nagaoka reported to Scientific American that they had
finally been able to identify the mystery “white metal” --- it was Platinum (Pt)
Fig. 1 – Apparatus for the electric discharge
H. Nagaoka, Nature July 18, 1925

Lattice Energy LLC
Per WLT 74W180 LENR network , what sequence of nuclear reactions could have produced Platinum and Gold?
 All of the ingredients for LENRs to occur were in fact present (please refer back to earlier Slides): hydride-forming metal
found therein was Tungsten (sadly, Nagaoka was unaware that Mercury was more-or-less a “red herring”); which was in
contact with abundant Hydrogen (protons) in transformer oil (CnH2n+2); the Born-Oppenheimer approximation broke-down
on surfaces of electrodes; and finally, there were large non-equilibrium fluxes of charged particles --- electrons in the high-
current arc discharges. Unbeknownst to Nagaoka, his high-current arcs probably also produced small amounts of
fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and perhaps even a little graphene. ULM neutron production rates via W-L weak interaction
could have been quite substantial in his high-electric-current-driven experimental system because of large energy inputs
 What could have happened in Nagaoka’s experiments was that Tungsten-seed, ULM neutron-catalyzed nucleosynthetic
networks spontaneously formed. What follows is but one example of an energetically favorable network pathway that could
produce detectable amounts of the only stable Gold isotope, 197Au, within ~4 hours (shortest arc discharge period after
which Au was observed). Other alternative viable LENR pathways can produce unstable Gold isotopes, e.g., 198Au with half-
life = 2.7 days and 199Au with HL = 3.1 days (both would be around for a time at end of a successful experiment)
 One possible 74W180-seed LENR network pathway that could produce Pt/Au in as little elapsed time as 4-5 hrs is as follows:
74W-186
Stable 28.4%
76Os-192
Stable 41%
79Au-197
Stable 100%
74W-187
HL = 23.7 hrs
76Os-193
HL = 1.3 days
74W-188
HL = 69.8 days
76Os-194
HL = 6.0 yrs
74W-189
HL = 11.6 min
76Os-195
HL = 6.5 min
74W-190
HL = 30 min
77Ir-195
HL = 2.5 hrs
74W-191
HL = 20 sec
77Ir-196
HL = 52 sec
74W-192
HL = 10 sec
78Pt-196
Stable 25.3%
75Re-192
HL = 16 sec
78Pt-197
HL = 19.9 hrs
5.6 7.1 5.3 2.0 5.8
β-
4.2
4.2 0.7
0.7
5.5 6.8 4.9 6.9 4.9 6.6 2.1
3.2
5.9
End at Gold
Note: stable elements (incl. % natural abundance) and half-lives of unstable isotopes are shown; green arrows
connecting boxes denote capture of an LENR neutron; blue connecting arrows denote beta decays; energetic Q-
values for neutron captures or beta decays are also provided; note that ALL Q-values are substantially positive,
thus this particular nucleosynthetic pathway is very energetically favorable for producing Platinum and Gold
3.22.0
β-
β-β-
β-
β- β-
Begin

Lattice Energy LLC
Re other possibly anomalous sources of Gold:
G. Dongarra, D. Varrica, and G. Sabatino, “Occurrence
of Platinum, Palladium, and Gold in pine needles of
Pinus pinea from the city of Palermo (Italy),” Applied
Geochemistry 18 pp. 109-116 (2003)
Quoting: “Preliminary data on the presence of Pt, Pd and
Au in airborne particulate matter from the urban area of
Palermo (Sicily, Italy) are presented. They were obtained
by analysing 40 samples of pine needles (Pinus pinea L.)
collected in and around the city. Observed concentrations
range from 1 to 102 μg/kg for Pt, 1 to 45 μg/kg for Pd
and 22 to 776 μg/kg for Au. Platinum and Pd
concentrations in pine needles are up to two orders of
magnitude higher than their crustal abundances. They
exhibit a high statistical correlation (R2=0.74) which
suggests a common origin.”
“Precious metal concentrations measured within the
city centre are much higher than those occurring
outside the town. The distribution patterns of Pt and Pd in
the study area are compared to the distributions of Au and
Pb. Gold is enriched at the same sites where Pt and Pd
are enriched, while Pb shows some discrepancies. The
most probable local source of all of these elements is
traffic. Average Pt and Pd emissions in the city area are
estimated to be about 136 and 273 g/a, respectively.”
Discussed in Lattice presentation found at URL:
http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/lattice-energy-
llc-len-rs-in-catalytic-convertersjune-25-2010
Nagaoka’s reported results may have been right , i.e., Au and Pt were produced:
 Plausible LENR nucleosynthetic pathway shown in the previous Slide suggests that
Nagaoka et al.’s claimed observations of macroscopically visible particles of Gold in their
ca. 1920s electric arc experiments in transformer oil could very well have been correct
 Note that stable Gold can also be produced via neutron capture on stable 80Hg196 which
creates unstable 80Hg197 that has a half-life of 2.7 days and decays via electron capture
into stable 79Au197. However, natural abundance (0.15%) of 80Hg19 initially present in
Nagaoka's 1920s experiments was so low that this alternative pathway cannot plausibly
account for observed production of macroscopically visible quantities of Au and Pt flecks
 It is puzzling why this seemingly fruitful line of inquiry appears to have died-out worldwide
by the time Chadwick experimentally verified the neutron’s existence in 1932? Oddly, it
does not appear that anyone else ever tried to exactly duplicate Nagaoka’s experiments.
However, there were well-publicized failures to replicate Miethe & Stammreich’s Gold
experiments that were extensively chronicled in Scientific American. Interestingly, Miethe’s
experimental apparatus consisted of Mercury arc lamps with Tungsten electrodes inside
evacuated quartz tubes; no transformer oil was present in those arcs. Perhaps Nagaoka’s
decision to use oil was exceedingly fortuitous: by doing so, he inadvertently guaranteed
that his apparatus contained enormous quantities of hydrogen for making ULM neutrons
 Please take note of the quotation from Prof. Nagaoka reproduced on earlier Slide #28. In
saying what he said, Hantaro clearly believed that some sort of commercial transmutation
technology would eventually be developed at some point in the future. Thus, in our opinion
not only was he a humble, brilliant scientist; he was also a rather bold visionary thinker ---
truly a man far ahead of his own time
 Interestingly, in the present era it is certainly possible that minute quantities of Gold are
actually being produced in automobile catalytic converters via the transmutation of some
Platinum present in the converters: at right, please see citation to a 2003 paper in Applied
Geochemistry and URL to yet another Lattice SlideShare presentation dated June 25, 2010
Final remarks re Nagaoka; today, Au is emitted from catalytic converters

Lattice Energy LLC
Cirillo & Iorio also produced Gold from Tungsten ca. 2004
Modern Italian work is ~theoretically equivalent to Nagaoka’s
Electric discharge with 74W180-186 cathode in alkaline H2O instead of CnH2n+2 + Hg
 Unaware of Nagaoka’s much earlier work, ca. 2003 - 2004 D. Cirillo and E. Iorio in Italy
inadvertently designed and constructed an LENR experimental system involving electric
discharges and Tungsten electrodes that, from a WLT perspective, was ~theoretically
equivalent to Nagaoka’s 1920s experimental set-up; they subsequently observed and
reported transmutation products that were consistent with Nagaoka's results reported in
Nature and operation of the 74W180-seed transmutation network that is described herein
 Cirillo & Iorio’s modern set-up utilized an “aqueous electrolyte plasma glow-discharge cell”
 From an abstract broad-brush theoretical viewpoint, main differences between their new
experimental system and Nagaoka’s set-up of 80 years earlier was that: (1) in Cirillo &
Iorio’s experiments the protons needed to produce LENR neutrons came from hydrogen
atoms in water (H2O) instead of in transformer oil (CnH2n+2); and (2) no Mercury (Hg) was
initially present in their system, so 80Hg196 + n → 80Hg197 → 79Au197 electron-capture reaction
can clearly be excluded as potential source of surface Gold they observed with SEM-EDX
 In a section following this one, we will speculatively discuss intriguing experimental
evidence that certain bacteria could be involved with 74W180-seed network out in Nature

Lattice Energy LLC
Schematic overview of Cirillo & Iorio’s LENR experimental apparatus
Source of Graphic: Nature, 445, January 4, 2007
Comment re their experimental data:
Unbeknownst to the experimenters,
they may have had either Barium
(Ba) titanate and/or Dysprosium (Dy)
as component(s) in the composition
of the dielectric ceramic sleeve that
was partially covering the cathode
immersed in the electrolyte; Ba
and/or Dy are commonly present in
such ceramics. Under the stated
experimental conditions, Ba and Dy
could easily leach-out from the
surface of the ceramic into the
electrolyte, creating yet another
target element that could migrate
onto the surface of their Tungsten
(W) cathode. Since none of the
potential intermediate transmutation
products such as Nd (Neodymium),
Sm (Samarium), and Gd
(Gadolinium) were observed, it is
possible that there may have been
LENR ULM neutron captures starting
with Dy → Er (Erbium) → Tm
(Thulium) → Yb (Ytterbium), LENR
transmutation products that were
also observed in these experiments
Ceramic sleeve
(bright blue)
Ceramic sleeve
(bright green)
_
+
Comment: this LENR
experiment involves
formation of a dense
plasma in a double-
layer confined to the
surface of Tungsten
(W) cathode (-) by a
liquid electrolyte

Lattice Energy LLC
Used SEM-EDX to detect intermediate products of 74W180-seed network
 Quoting: “… electrodes are cylindrical rods with a
diameter of 2.45 mm, and a length of 17.5 cm … both are
made of pure Tungsten [W] …cathode is partially covered
with a ceramic sleeve, which allows … control [of] the
dimensions of … exposed cathode surface submerged in
… solution.”
 In their experiments, Rhenium (Re), Osmium (Os), and
Gold (Au) were observed post-experimentally as nuclear
transmutation products on the Tungsten (W) cathode
surface; other LENR transmutation products were also
observed (please see our Comment on previous Slide)
 According to WLT, operation of the 74W180-seed LENR
transmutation network could in theory produce a Gold
nucleosynthetic pathway of W → Re → Os → Ir → Pt → Au
 As predicted by WLT: Cirillo & Iorio observed production of
Re, Os, and Au in a series of modern experiments
 Theoretically similar to Nagaoka’s experiments in 1920s:
LENR transmutation products that were observed can be
explained with Widom-Larsen theory neutron captures and
beta- decays beginning using Tungsten (W) as a seed
Paper (conference presentation; not peer-reviewed):
D. Cirillo and V. Iorio, “Transmutation of metal at low
energy in a confined plasma in water" on pp. 492-504
in Condensed Matter Nuclear Science – Proceedings
of the 11th International Conference on Cold Fusion,
J-P. Biberian, ed., World Scientific (2006)
Free copy of paper available at:
http://www.lenr-
canr.org/acrobat/CirilloDtransmutat.pdf
Abstract:
"Energetic emissions have been observed from an
electrolytic cell when tungsten [W] electrodes are
used to generate a confined plasma close to the
cathode immersed an alkaline solution. In addition,
energy generation has been observed, always close
to the cathode, along with the appearance of new
chemical elements in the experimental apparatus.
These elements were not present in the cell before
the experiment. This observation is proof of nuclear
transmutations occurring within the cell. The results
of this research and a theoretical model of the
phenomenon were shown for the first time on April
18, 2004 during the second Grottammare (Ap) ONNE
meeting in Italy.”

Lattice Energy LLC
Used SEM-EDX to detect intermediate products of 74W180-seed network
Rhenium (Re)
Osmium (Os)
Gold (Au) and
Thulium (Tm)
See comment on
earlier Slide re
Thulium
Osmium detected - Fig. 13. Analysis conducted with an
SEM-EDX on small area of cathode surface after 4000 sec.
of plasma discharge - Jan 2004 (Cirillo & Iorio, 2006)
Rhenium detected - Fig. 12. Analysis conducted with an
SEM –EDX on small area of cathode surface after 4000
sec. of plasma - Jan 2004 (Cirillo & Iorio, 2006)
Gold and Thulium detected - Fig. 14. Analysis conducted
with an SEM-EDX on small area of cathode surface after
4000 sec. plasma discharge - Jan 2004 (Cirillo & Iorio, 2006)
Fig. 10 - Tungsten thermionic emission (Cirillo & Iorio, 2006)
Fig. 11 – View of the plasma heat transfer mechanism (Cirillo & Iorio, 2006)
Fig. 9 – Tungsten fusion area [after 4,000 sec.] (Cirillo &Iorio, 2006)

Lattice Energy LLC
New 2010-11 experiments and reports by Cirillo et al.
Same experimental set-up: first-ever indirect detection of ULM neutrons
“Experimental evidence of a neutron flux generation in a plasma discharge electrolytic cell”
D. Cirillo, R. Germano, V. Tontodonato, A. Widom, Y.N. Srivastava, E. Del Giudice, and G. Vitiello
Key Engineering Materials 495 pp. 104 - 107 (2012)
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.495.104 ($US28 if purchased online)
http://www.scientific.net/KEM.495.104
Abstract: “A substantial neutron flux generated by plasma excitation at the tungsten cathode of an electrolytic cell with alkaline
solution is reported. A method based on a CR-39 nuclear track detector coupled to a boron converter was used to detect the
neutrons. This method is insensitive to the strong plasma-generated electromagnetic noise that made inconclusive all the
previous attempts to identify neutrons in electrolytic plasma environment by means of electric detection techniques.”
“Water plasma modes and nuclear transmutations on the metallic cathode of a plasma discharge electrolytic cell”
D. Cirillo, E. Del Giudice, R. Germano, S. Sivasubrammanian, Y.N. Srivastava, V. Tontodonato, G. Vitiello and A. Widom
Key Engineering Materials 495 pp. 124 - 128 (2012)
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.495.124 ($US28 if purchased online)
http://www.scientific.net/KEM.495.124
Abstract: “In the conceptual framework of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) it has been proven that liquid water is made up of
two phases: 1) a coherent phase where the electron cloud of water molecules oscillates in phase with a trapped electromagnetic
field within extended regions, called Coherence Domains (CD); 2) a non coherent phase formed by a gas-like ensemble of
molecules filling the interstices among the CD's. The constituent molecules of the coherent phase oscillate between their
individual ground state and an excited state where one electron is so loosely bound to be considered quasi-free. Therefore the
coherent phase contains a plasma of quasi-free electrons. In the bulk water, as in the case of superfluid liquid Helium, each
molecule crosses over continuously between the two phases. On the contrary, close to the surface of a metallic cathode in a
chemical cell , the attraction between molecules and wall stabilizes the coherent phases so that the layer of interfacial water is
mainly coherent and capable of holding a negative electronic charge. When the chemical cell voltage exceeds a threshold, an
interfacial water-cathode metal surface plasma mode is developed. From the collective energies continuously pumped into the
plasma, the weak interaction e*- + p+ → n + νe may be induced which produces neutrons and neutrinos from Hydrogen atoms.
The neutrons may then ultimately induce other nuclear transmutations on the cathode metal surface.”

Lattice Energy LLC
LENR networks occur in variety of different environments
 Herein, in previous slides we have discussed an example of a 74W180-seed LENR
neutron-catalyzed transmutation network that can start with Tungsten or Tantalum
seeds and potentially produce stable or unstable Rhenium (Re), Osmium (Os), Iridium
(Ir), Platinum (Pt), Gold (Au), Mercury (Hg), Thallium (Tl), Lead (Pb), and even Bismuth
(Bi) isotopes as network products
 Furthermore, in an array of different publications, Lattice has cited and discussed
numerous examples of published experimental data that provides strong evidence that
LENRs may be widespread in Nature, allowing dynamic nuclear transmutation
processes to occur in many different types of macroscopically mild temp environments
in addition to very hot cores of stars, nuclear weapons detonations, and fission reactors
 Types of varied environments in which LENRs can potentially occur under exactly the
right set of conditions include, among other things: electrolytic chemical cells;
pyrolysis processes involving carbon-ring compounds; catalytic converters of cars and
trucks; electric current-driven exploding wires; atmospheric lightning; in stellar
atmospheres and magnetic flux tubes of stars; during catastrophic fracturing of crustal
rocks containing piezoelectric minerals; and last but perhaps not least, maybe during
the metabolic and biosynthetic activities of certain bacteria and some fungi
Many isotopic anomalies have been reported; what is causing them?

Lattice Energy LLC
LENR networks occur in variety of different environments
 Unlike fission and fusion reactions, naturally occurring LENR transmutation processes in
condensed matter are biologically benign because they make extensive use of and are
enabled by many-body collective effects, quantum phenomena, and the weak interaction.
As a result, they typically do not emit dangerous hard MeV-energy gamma photon or
neutron radiation, nor do they produce large amounts of long-lived radioactive isotopes.
LENRs are clean, truly green, ubiquitous, and effectively hidden in plain sight; best way to
detect results of such processes are various types of very sensitive mass spectroscopy
 In a recent Lattice PowerPoint presentation (http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/lattice-
energy-llcnew-russian-data-supports-wlt-neutron-production-in-lightningapril-4-2012), on
Slide #68 we stated that, “Recently, greatly increased use of various types of mass
spectroscopy by geochemists, microbiologists, and environmental scientists has revealed
that the longstanding assumption of effective natural uniformity of U238/U235 ratios across
the earth is clearly erroneous; importantly, present-era abiological and/or biologically
mediated processes appear to be responsible for such anomalous variances.” We
concluded that key remaining questions were whether, “ ... anomalous variances in such
isotopic ratios the result of purely “chemical fractionation” process(es) of some sort,
and/or could they [alternatively] be caused by low energy nuclear reactions (LENRs), either
abiologically or somehow induced by the actions of bacteria through some yet to be
clarified mechanism?” Additional research to answer such questions is obviously needed
Absence of strong radiation signatures renders them unnoticeable

Lattice Energy LLC
Are bacteria transmuting Tungsten → Gold → Mercury?
Large numbers of isotopic anomalies reported; what is causing them?
Subset of effects now attributed to “chemical fractionation” might be LENRs
Before proceeding further, let it be crystal clear to readers exactly what is and what is not being said herein:
 We are not asserting that the longstanding chemical fractionation conceptual paradigm fails to adequately explain most reported
isotope anomalies with respect to statistically significant deviations from so-called “natural” abundances --- indeed, it may well explain
the vast majority of them correctly; we don’t claim otherwise
 We are claiming that the presently available published literature does contain a significant subset comprising many cases in which the
‘pure’ chemical fractionation paradigm must be pushed very hard (which includes use of various ad hoc constructs) to explain
reported isotopic data, i.e. it is being overly stretched to be able to comfortably accommodate certain anomalies
 We are suggesting that in such instances, it may be fruitful for researchers to reexamine such data through the conceptual ‘lens’ of the
WLT LENR paradigm to determine whether a new way of thinking about such data can help lead us to achieve a deeper, better
understanding what may be causing it. In some cases, it may; in others it may not --- but we should try to do so anyway
 In addition, our theoretical work and extensive review of a very large body of published, heretofore thought-to-be-disparate,
experimental data suggest that profound changes in present thinking about nucleosynthetic processes may be necessary
 In particular, it was recently established (PRL, 2012) that substantial fluxes of low-energy neutrons are produced in atmospheric
lightning discharges; for a discussion see recent Lattice presentation at http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/lattice-energy-llcnew-
russian-data-supports-wlt-neutron-production-in-lightningapril-4-2012 . This new experimental fact, in conjunction with some
astronomers’ belief that lightning processes were probably occurring on a substantial scale in the presolar nebula (before accretion
and condensation of planets), suggests that abiotic, neutron-catalyzed, non-stellar nucleosynthesis and transmutation of elements
has been happening at unknown rates in the environs of the solar system for at least 3-4 billion years. Transmutations can thus occur
abiotically in nebular and atmospheric gases, volcanic dust clouds, and on dust particles that are embedded in lightning channels
 Preprint utilizing WLT was recently published (arXiv, 2011) that provides a rationale for abiotic production of LENR neutrons during
catastrophic fracturing of mineral grains found in certain rocks; see A. Widom et al., “Neutron Production from the Fracture of
Piezoelectric Rocks” at http://arxiv.org/pdf/1109.4911.pdf . Transmutations can thus occur at significant rates within the earth’s crust

Lattice Energy LLC
Subset of effects now attributed to “chemical fractionation” might be LENRs
 Prior to publication of seminal work on bacterial transmutations in Russia (Vysotskii et al. 2003, 2008), prosaic explanations for
many observed Fe and other isotope anomalies observed in many studies assumed that biological systems (mainly bacteria) are
able to effectively “fractionate” heavier isotopes through various types of biochemical pathways that utilize purely chemical, non-
nuclear mechanisms. Unfortunately, very specific, believable biophysical details of precisely how such processes are supposed
to operate are lacking in our opinion, especially for significantly heavier elements, e.g., Iron (Fe) and beyond.
 Lattice can readily accept that chemical kinetic processes in biological systems are able to discriminate between isotopes of
comparatively light elements (e.g., hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and perhaps up to oxygen) and can somehow physically separate
them from each other; that is, via purely chemical "fractionation." However, we have difficulty believing that ordinary, prosaic
chemical processes alone are capable of easily and efficiently discriminating and significantly enriching various isotopes of
substantially heavier elements, especially beyond the atomic masses of Fe isotopes and/or transition metals.
 In particular, peer-reviewed papers have recently been published in which Geobacter sp. bacteria are seemingly observed to
"fractionate" Uranium isotopes (Bopp et al., 2010). In such papers authors attempt to explain Uranium isotope changes with the
so-called "nuclear field shift effect” and nuclear volume/shape effects (Bigeleisen, 1996). In our view, such explanations for
isotopic data could potentially be erroneous in the case of Uranium and other heavy elements such as Mercury, for example.
 Why? Because the reason giant high-speed gas centrifuges are used to "fractionate", i.e., enrich, uranium isotopes for use in
nuclear weapons and fission reactor fuel is that unassisted wet chemical kinetic fractionation/separation processes by
themselves have been found to be inadequate in terms of practical efficacy. The only other known-to-be practical method for
sufficiently enriching Uranium isotopes employs powerful lasers and the same Uranium hexafluoride gas used in high-speed
centrifuges. If the recently hypothesized chemical fractionation mechanisms truly worked as well on Uranium isotopes in non-
gas-phase systems as their proponents claim, one would surely think that such effects would have been utilized long ago in one
or more of the government nuclear weapons and/or commercial Uranium enrichment programs scattered around the world (e.g.,
Iran today). To our knowledge, during the past 60 years they have never been used for such a purpose anywhere. That well-
established fact is the basis for our strong skepticism about “nuclear field” or “nuclear volume” shift effects being correct
physical explanations for the underlying mechanism(s) responsible for creating observed changes in Uranium isotope ratios.

Lattice Energy LLC
Available evidence strongly suggests that abiotic LENRs occur on Earth
Cannot assume all elements or isotopes in the Earth are nucleosynthetically pristine:
 Clearly, when the earth accreted from materials present in the dusty, hydrogen-rich presolar
nebula, it contained a complex mixture of elements/isotopes that had originally been created
during much earlier episodes of stellar nucleosynthesis that had occurred well-before
formation of the present solar system
 We are asserting that non-stellar, abiotic WLT LENR transmutation processes have likely
occurred in the solar system ever since its initial formation; products of later neutron-
catalyzed LENR processes have thus been superimposed on what was initially present
 Unfortunately, this inconvenient truth violates a longstanding assumption of astrophysicists,
geophysicists, and geochemists that signiﬁcant amounts of elemental nucleosynthesis have
not occurred in earthly materials since planetary formation. This problem has caused serious
issues with Uranium isotope data that are discussed here:
“Terrestrial Uranium 238U/235U isotopic ratio is not invariant over time - Hiess et al. (Science,
2012) confirm failure of invariance assumption; propose corrected value for ratio”
Lewis Larsen, Lattice Energy LLC, April12, 2012 [35 slides – not peer reviewed]
http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/lattice-energy-llcnew-ata-on-terrestrial-uranium-238-
u235u-ratios-confirm-not-invariantapril-12-2012

Lattice Energy LLC
Earthly abiotic LENRs likely occur; but what about biological LENRs?
“Some bacteria appear capable of altering isotopic ratios of Uranium - Is it the result of
prosaic chemical fractionation processes and/or LENRs?”
L. Larsen, Lattice Energy LLC, December 7, 2010 [50-page 8.5 x 11 MS-Word document – not
peer-reviewed]
http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/bacteria-lenrsand-isotopic-shifts-in-uraniumlarsenlattice-energy-
dec-7-2010-6177275
Summary: provides description of theoretical WLT LENR Actinide nucleosynthetic network
and selected examples of published mainstream, peer-reviewed experimental data which
report anomalous isotopic shifts clearly associated with the metabolic activities of bacteria ---
some or all of the hypothesized network pathways are potentially present in soils, ocean
sediments, dusty chemical explosions, volcanic eruptions, and extraterrestrial impact events
Much more readable, uncompressed versions of Figs. 1 and 2 (found in the above-listed 2010
Document) that outline hypothesized LENR Actinide nucleosynthetic network are also
available in a separate MS-PowerPoint presentation [4 slides]
http://www.slideshare.net/lewisglarsen/thoriumseed-lenr-networkfigslattice-energydec-7-2010-6177745
Details of this exciting possibility are discussed in the following document:

Lattice Energy LLC
Speculation about the possibility of above LENR reactions
 For the moment, let us set aside issue of deciding whether Tungsten → Gold → Mercury transmutation
pathway occurs abiotically and/or biologically and simply ask a question: is there any data in the published
literature which suggests that this particular LENR path is likely occurring somewhere out in Nature and, if
so, how might one expect its effects to be physically manifested and detected analytically?
 Potential types of such manifestations (list is meant to merely be illustrative, not exhaustive):
 Close spatial association of any combinations of W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Hg, and/or Pb in single deposit
 W, Au, Os, Pt, Ir, or Hg-containing mineral deposits in which geochemical origin and/or mechanism for
producing the observed degree of local enrichment of such metals are unclear or very anomalous
 Mineral deposits exhibiting either unusual shifts in isotopes of above elements vs. recognized
Standards or vs. “natural abundances,” and/or unusually high variability in measured isotopic ratios
of W, Os, Pt or Hg on length scales of microns to tens of meters (vs. thousands of meters to >> kms)
 Notable or unusual associations of bacteria with regard to being intimately involved with significant
“enrichment” of esp. W, Au, and/or Hg metals or compounds and/or clear association of bacteria with
shifted (“fractionated," especially so-called “mass-independent fractionation”) W or Hg isotopes
 Many of these potential manifestations can be analyzed and measured with various types of mass
spectroscopy; e.g., MC-ICP-MS, SIMS (incl. Cameca’s nanoSIMS), and neutron activation analysis

Lattice Energy LLC
Speculation about the possibility of above LENR reactions
 Over the next several slides, we will provide a terse, sketchy outline of how land
and undersea hydrothermal vent systems likely exhibit essentially all of the
previously noted manifestations that one might expect if the speculative Tungsten
→ Gold → Mercury WLT LENR transmutation pathway were operating somewhere
therein. Note that this presentation contains informed speculation that is intended
to (and should) raise many more questions in readers’ minds than it answers
 Not surprisingly, the goal of this section of the document is arouse the intellectual
curiosity of subject matter experts in the possibility of utilizing our new WLT LENR
conceptual paradigm to try to help answer some truly fascinating science questions
 Please note that these speculations are not intended to be definitive but rather an
initial exploratory foray into a little-known terra incognita; a roughly sketched
explorers map intended to help stimulate technical discussion and spur new and
deeper investigation into a myriad of isotopic measurements and very accurate
measurements of mass balances; if elements aren’t rigorously conserved, then we
are assuredly dealing with nuclear as well as chemical processes in such systems

Lattice Energy LLC
Present-era and ancient fossil hydrothermal vent systems
Temp/pressure regimes in such environments can support abiotic LENRs
“Black smoker” undersea hydrothermal vent
with chimney emitting clouds of material
By some estimates, as much as one-third of the
planet’s biomass - the sheer weight of all its living
organisms - is buried beneath the ocean floor.
Hydrothermal vent (source quoted is Wikipedia article):
“A hydrothermal vent is a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally
heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically
active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and
hotspots. Hydrothermal vents exist because the earth is both geologically active and
has large amounts of water on its surface and within its crust. Common land types
include hot springs, fumaroles and geysers. Under the sea, hydrothermal vents may
form features called black smokers. Relative to the majority of the deep sea, the areas
around submarine hydrothermal vents are biologically more productive, often hosting
complex communities fueled by the chemicals dissolved in the vent fluids.”
“Hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean typically form along the Mid-ocean ridges,
such as the East Pacific Rise and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. These are locations where
two tectonic plates are diverging and new crust is being formed ... In contrast to the
approximately 2 °C ambient water temperature at these depths, water emerges from
these vents at temperatures ranging from 60 °C up to as high as 464 °C. Due to the
high hydrostatic pressure at these depths, water may exist in either its liquid form or
as a supercritical fluid at such temperatures. At a pressure of 218 atmospheres, the
critical point of (pure) water is 375 °C. At a depth of 3,000 meters, the hydrostatic
pressure of sea water is more than 300 atmospheres (as salt water is denser than
fresh water). At this depth and pressure, seawater becomes supercritical at a
temperature of 407 °C. However the increase in salinity at this depth pushes the water
closer to its critical point. Thus, water emerging from the hottest parts of some
hydrothermal vents can be a supercritical fluid, possessing physical properties
between those of a gas and those of a liquid. Besides being superheated, the water is
also extremely acidic, often having a pH value as low as 2.8 - approx. … vinegar.”

Lattice Energy LLC
Undersea hydrothermal vent systems - biogeochemical cycle diagram
Temp/pressure regimes in such environments can support abiotic LENRs
Credit: U.S. federal government work, public domain

Lattice Energy LLC
Present-era and ancient fossil undersea hydrothermal vent systems
Temps/pressures in such environments can support abiotic LENRs
Detailed conceptual schematic of undersea
hydrothermal vent with chimney
By some estimates, as much as one-third of the
planet’s biomass - the sheer weight of all its living
organisms - is buried beneath the ocean floor.
BTW (Wikipedia) – “A species of phototrophic bacterium has been found living near a
black smoker off the coast of Mexico at a depth of 2500 m. No sunlight penetrates that far
into the waters. Instead, the bacteria, part of the Chlorobiaceae family, use the faint glow
from the black smoker [infrared IR photons ] for photosynthesis. This is the first organism
discovered in Nature to exclusively use a light other than sunlight for photosynthesis.”
 According to WLT and a very large body of experimental data accumulated for
~100 years, LENRs can occur at significant rates under macroscopically mild
pressures and temperatures (don’t need to have hot stars or fission reactors)
 For example, in published experiments Mizuno (2008) reported substantial
LENR neutron capture products on Carbon seeds with Hydrogen and Pt
catalyst at P/T of 37-60 atm @ 600-650o C; Curial et al. (Unocal, 1992) reported
anomalous “disappearance” of Ni and V and isotopic shifts during aqueous
pyrolysis of crude oil samples with Au catalyst at 104-111 atm @ 200-300o C;
McKubre (1998) produced Helium-4 from Carbon seeds using Deuterium and
Pd catalyst at 1-3 atm @ 170-250o C; lastly, over period of weeks Miley (1996)
produced large array of LENR transmutation products from H2O and Nickel
seeds in current-driven electrolytic chemical cell operated at 1 atm @ 20-30o C
 Note that: in Nature, abiotic or biological LENR transmutation processes would
most likely operate at significantly slower rates than what has been evident in
reported data from laboratory experiments published to date
 Importantly, many large deposits of Gold being mined profitably today were
originally formed in land or undersea hydrothermal vent systems

Lattice Energy LLC
Active present-era undersea hydrothermal vent systems are electric
Abiotic electric currents can help provide input energy needed to drive LENRs
Abstract: “Some like it hot: metal-like electrical conduction and
electrocatalytic function of a black smoker chimney point to a
possible new form of energy transfer from hot, reductive
hydrothermal fluid to cold, oxygenated seawater by electrical
current generation in the sulfide chimney wall.”
Brief commentary re paper found on Sugar Project’s website at:
http://www.jamstec.go.jp/biogeos/e/xbr/sugar/achievements.html
Direct quote: “The SUGAR Program has worked in collaboration
with Prof. Kazuhito Hashimoto group of Tokyo University, and
carried out an electrochemical analysis with the sample collected
from the chimney from the deep sea hydrothermal vent. From this
experiment, it made clear of the chimney composed by Black
Smoker, made of sulfide minerals possessing a high electrical
conductivity. In addition, the presence of electrical current across
the wall of the Chimneys was proved. This electrical current occurs
due to the chemical reactions similar to the battery between inside
and outside of the Chimney in natural environment. These
experimental results are the world-first proof of the Earth’s internal
energy being converted into electrical energy, when released at the
seafloor. This Hydrothermal Chimney Battery phenomenon will
surely explain more about the origin- of-life mechanisms, as well as
deep sea biological activity and material circulation.”
Figure extracted from paper cited to left:
Nature can utilize such natural electric
currents as an additional input energy
source to help drive LENR transmutation
reactions, either abiotically or biologically

Lattice Energy LLC
Active present-era hydrothermal vent systems
Abiotic electric currents can also help provide input energy for bacterial LENRs
Now, fascinating new facts and speculation about “electric bacteria” - recent exciting discoveries by
microbiologists have revealed that electric potentials, currents, and ‘nanowires’ are associated with the
activities of a number of different species of bacteria; how might this relate to the possibility of LENRs in
hydrothermal vent systems? First, let’s examine the concept of a LENR electrolytic chemical cell:
Above are various conceptual schematics of a type of aqueous light-water electrolytic chemical cells used in many
LENR experiments (typically would use DC power supply instead of a battery as a source of electrical current). Please
note that using mass spectroscopy for post-experiment analyses, LENR researchers have carefully documented and
reported production (via transmutation) of minute amounts of many different elements and isotopically shifted stable
isotopes on the surfaces of cathodes found in such cells. In certain cases, array of transmutation products was huge

Lattice Energy LLC
Active present-era hydrothermal vent systems
Strong similarities between such vent environments and LENR chemical cells
Present in electrolytic cells
used in laboratory experiments
that have clearly produced
LENR transmutation products
Similarly present somewhere inside vent
bacteria or abiotic - found somewhere in
active hydrothermal vent environments?
Comments about similarity
Aqueous electrolyte containing mobile
ions as well as sources of protons,
i.e., H2O in liquid form as seawater
Yes – all required precursors for
LENRs present in and around vents
Very abundant in hydrothermal vent systems
Local disequilibrium electrical
(electron) current
Yes – see earlier Slide See work of Prof. Hashimoto’s group at Tokyo University
Conductive metallic anode and
cathode structures that support redox
reactions on surfaces; also can absorb
hydrogen (form hydrides) which enters
metallic lattices as p+ protons
Yes – lots of chemical redox activity
happens in active hydrothermal vents
Various metals are commonly present inside bacteria; in
some cases tightly integrated with macromolecules (e.g.,
enzyme cofactors); not yet clear exactly what vent
systems’ nanoscale structural equivalents of metallic
laboratory cathodes/anodes are really like; aromatic rings
in macromolecules are one of many candidates
Metallic wires or equivalents that can
conduct nanoscale electric currents
Yes – many such structures
Many species of bacteria now known to have electrically
conductive, mostly nonmetallic nanowires; electric
currents have been measured in such structures
Oxidation-reduction (Redox) chemical
reactions occur at the effective anodes
and cathodes immersed in electrolyte
Yes – many types of redox bacteria
Redox reactions occur in metal-reducing bacteria ---
observed isotopic shifts are now known to be closely
associated with bacterial reduction processes; e.g.,
Uranium, Sulfur isotopes as reported in many papers

Lattice Energy LLC- LENR Transmutation Networks can Produce Gold-May 19 2012

Lattice Energy LLC- LENR Transmutation Networks can Produce Gold-May 19 2012

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