A Single Large Seller Smashed the Gold Market Yesterday: Dr. Evil Strategy?

There are a variety of reasons to liquidate a large position.

But whatever the reason, no experienced trader would take a very large position into a thin market and then just dump it at the market, if they wanted to achieve some sort of reasonable economic benefit from selling that position.  One does not do this unless they were under significant duress, or have some motive other than profit.