Science

...alchemist's dream, albeit not in a way that is less expensive than mining gold, this by a long stretch.

One case of doing this is described here: A R Balabekyan et al Spallation reactions induced by 4.4 GeV deuterons on lead isotopes 2019 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 46 095103

The cross sections for this reaction are said to be 3.33 ± 0.40 mb for 204Pb, 3.64 ± 0.40mb for 206Pb, 4.35 ± 0.40 mb for 207Pb, and 5.71 ± 0.40 mb for 208Pb. These reactions do not produce 197Au directly, but produce the isotope 197mHg, which decays to stable 197Au, sometimes directly and sometimes by isomeric transformation to 197Hg which then decays by β+ emission to gold.

These high energy spallation reactions actually yield a large array of elements across the periodic table.

I have heard and am inclined to believe, that the goal of ancient alchemists was not to get wealthy but rather to learn the secret of eternal life, which gold was thought to possess since for much of human history a way to dissolve it was not known.