I know very little of gold, minerals in general, or metal, so we're on the same page there.

I was making a reference to the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. In it, the titular world is carried on the back of four elephants on the back of a turtle swimming through the cosmos. There used to be five elephants, but one fell off. The gravity of the world pulled it around in a circle and it crashed into the world, leaving the elephant's innards embedded in the ground. Because the elephant supported one fifth of a whole world, its body parts, especially structural components, were not composed of normal organic materials; its bones were of iron and its nerves of gold. In the lore of Discworld, the dwarves essentially mine the body of the elephant for precious materials.

Discworld has complex lore and is a great read. Has nothing to do with the real world, of course; but if any of the above sounds appealing, I strongly suggest reading it.

edit: I apologize if I presented my original comment in a way that made it seem I was correcting you. I was just being nerdy.