first paragraph is missing the mark too, IMO. think about thousands of pressure cookers exploding at various pressures. it's not that "it's never enough explosions to prevent big one", it's more "there's always some strong enough cooker to blow at much bigger pressure". And lubricating should work much like safety valve, lowering pressure on which blowing occurs at every single cooker.

Not lanolin or static electricity. It's a convenient natural alternative to modern gold mining carpets. And legends about "golden fleece" imply that there are so much golden sand in streams in that land, that fleece after sluicing looks golden