Synthesis of Precious Metals - Rhenium

Rhenium

The cost of rhenium as of January 2010 was $6,250/kg; by contrast, tungsten is very cheap, with a price of under $30/kg as of July 2010. The isotopes 184W and 186W together make up roughly 59% of naturally-occurring tungsten. Slow-neutron irradiation could convert these isotopes into 185W and 187W, which have half-lives of 75 days and 24 hours, respectively, and always undergo beta decay to the corresponding rhenium isotopes. These isotopes could then be further irradiated to transmute them into osmium (see above), increasing their value further.