A precious metal (4)
I believe the answer is:
gold
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">a precious metal</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(gold is a precious metal)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for gold that I've seen before include "Thin sheet of precious metal" , "gift from a king" , "Tokens of marriage" , "Au - metal" , "first gets this?" .)