I see that happening IF the chemists learn how to make gold from seawater elements (which they can) but so easily it's profitable. Never say never, but I wouldn't bet a penny on shorting gold or silver.
Gold and silver has been a solid form of exchange for as long as man learned fire could make food taste better. It went through a lull, but just a blip on the scale of relativity since recorded time. I don't see PMs going down that much unless the means of extracting make it irrelevant, sort of like lab grown diamonds have done to that market.
It's not out of reach for the average individual, if invested in gold funds, much like fractional shares of bitcoin..... I'm not aware if there are funds for that other than mining companies but I'm not in the loop for that so there may be. I own a several ounces of physical gold and I'm content with that.