I'm a developer, not an engineer, but if you wanted it closer, I'm guessing you'd need to move into an orbit that is close to earth's orbit and close to earth's

I'm a developer, not an engineer, but if you wanted it closer, I'm guessing you'd need to move into an orbit that is close to earth's orbit and close to earth's position in that orbit. Far easier, probably, to cut out small chunks of it and send them on a trajectory we can manipulate easier because the forces are way smaller. Large chunks of gold in an orbit anywhere near the earth would be enough motivation to find a way to retrieve them, I'm guessing.