The Gold Rush Tragedy: When Processing Schedule Sentenced Australia's Greatest Treasure to Destruction The crushing had ALREADY BEGUN when history's greatest gold specimen emerged! With 272 tonnes of quartz already being processed at the stamper battery, timing created a devastating dilemma. Holtermann fought to preserve the "monumental find for posterity," but with crushing underway, he lost the battle. The specimen was "condemned and sentenced to the battery shed"—granted only a brief reprieve