For what it's worth - a sputter target is a piece of metal (gold or "what ever") that is targeted to cause an atomic displacement of that metal so that the atoms of that metal can be deposited on another surface (Sputtered atoms are ejected from the target)
It (sputtering) is used to apply a thin (atomic thin) coating on the surface of another substrate such as the metal coating on optical lens, window coatings, the gold colored titanium nitride coating on drill bits, the aluminum coating on DVDs & CDs, thin film integrated circuits, etc.
So a sputter target is a solid piece of the metal intended to be deposited (atomic thin) to another surface --- a gold sputter target would be a sold piece of gold
Kurt