Years ago I read an AP story which reported the remains of an ancient goldmine in central Africa. Testing showed the timbers to be at least 245,000 years old. Also kept an clipping of a story reporting the existence of a very large hunk of gold, some platinum, (larger than a football field) orbiting in the asteroid belt.
Interesting how those numbers support Zachariah's writing. Even so, it's hard to get too worked up about things that happen in time spans that are multiples of your own expected lifespan.