Gold is a very heavy metal, an element that originated from neutron star collisions long before our solar system's formation. Gold was believed to be the yellow metal from Gods up in the sky in ancient Colombia. They were right about it being extraterrestrial in origin. Gold formed in stars that existed before our Sun was born. Most of the gold sank to the center of the Earth during it's formation because it's so heavy. That heaviness is why we find gold on the bottom of streams because it naturally sinks.

It's curious that both the ancient Old World and New World civilizations valued gold so highly.