12x04 - Concrete Evidence

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...

STEVE:
So, this is the Golden Egg,

where precious metals
are coming from.

It could literally be gold.

Could be. We're due for a win.

The Restalls were convinced

that they found the flood tunnel
down in Smith's Cove.

If there's something
here, we should find it.

- It's cement.
- GARY: Wow, there's a chance we've hit

the flood tunnels?

I did do a CT scan
of the surface image.

- What do you think that is?
- It's related to gold.

NARRATOR: There is an
island in the North Atlantic

where people have
been looking for

an incredible treasure
for more than 200 years.

So far, they have
found a stone slab

with strange
symbols carved into it,

man-made workings that
date to medieval times,

and a lead cross whose
origin may be connected

to the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have died

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend,
one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

TERRY: So, here we go.

We cover this ground properly,

then we know it's not here
or we bump into something

that everybody's been
hoping to find, for what,

- 200 years?
- Since 1795.

NARRATOR: Another energized
morning has begun on Oak Island

for brothers Rick and
Marty Lagina and their team

as they continue investigating
the fabled Money Pit area

in search of the answers

to a 229-year-old
treasure mystery.

As we have it
plotted on our map,

borehole FN-15.5,

this is towards the southern
end of the Golden Egg...

- Yeah.
- Where Fred believes the precious metals

- are coming from.
- Yeah.

So, I mean, today could be
a really important borehole.

- The possibilities are endless.
- Yeah.

- CHARLES: Good morning, Rick. Good morning, Alex.
- RICK: Good morning.

NARRATOR: Two weeks
ago, the team began

a new strategic
core-drilling operation

in a 30-by-15-foot area
dubbed the "Golden Egg."

It is here where recently
conducted groundwater testing

has detected an
unnaturally high source

of precious metals between
depths of 80 to 120 feet.

You felt like you just
caught something?

Well, it was really
soft at the top here.

NARRATOR: And curiously, while
drilling a borehole known as EN-13,

disturbed soils were recovered
from nearly 100 feet deep,

suggesting that a large
man-made structure or object

could be buried nearby.

STEVE: This whole area

needs to be explored,
because those metals

are coming from somewhere.

Yeah, it could
literally be gold.

- Am I right?
- You are right. -Could be.

NARRATOR: Today, the team
is drilling borehole FN-15.5,

located just 14
feet to the northeast,

in the hopes of pinpointing
the possible man-made feature,

and hopefully, a vast
cache of precious metals.

This one particular
hole has the possibility

of being highly informative.

Dr. Fred does believe

that these metals are
highly concentrated

in the Golden Egg, and
because we may have hit

a flood tunnel in the
area, we could be close

to actually finding
the treasure.

And let's not forget,
y'all remember last year

when Dumas was
probe-drilling at the bottom

of the Garden Shaft.

We hit a potential flood tunnel,

and I mean, we had
hundreds of gallons a minute.

And we're a mere, well,
you can see it, five, ten feet

off the north corner
of the Garden Shaft.

There was 700 gallons
a minute of seawater...

not fresh water, seawater...
coming into that Garden Shaft.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: In 2023, as representatives
from Dumas Contracting Limited

began drilling into
a mysterious tunnel

located some 100 feet deep below
the 18th-century Garden Shaft...

NARRATOR: salt
water suddenly rushed in,

causing the team to
abandon the operation.

This disastrous setback
has made them speculate

that they encountered
the legendary flood tunnel,

reportedly made of
large cobblestones,

and which is believed to
originate at Smith's Cove.

If that's the flood tunnel
coming from Smith's Cove...

- Yeah.
- We know the flood tunnel went directly to the Money Pit.

So, if we could
follow that tunnel,

we'll know where
the Money Pit is.

TERRY: We still got
about 60 feet to go

before we get into
that horizon of interest.

- We're due for a win, Terry.
- TERRY: Yeah, absolutely. Here's hoping.

NARRATOR: While
the core-drilling operation

continues in the Golden Egg,

later that afternoon...

RICK: This could
be one of the most

interesting efforts this year.

- Mm-hmm.
- Yes.

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina

and operations
manager Scott Barlow

meet with Marty Lagina
and surveyor Steve Guptill

in the research center.

Look, everybody knows

there's unfinished business
down in Smith's Cove.

So I think we need an
additional dig down there.

And I'm gonna turn
it over to you, Scott,

because you have made
a very astute assessment

of what you want to find.

So, why don't you
fill everybody in?

So, basically,
let's-let's rewind back

to last year with
the Dumas shaft.

They were drilling out
of the bottom of the shaft,

and then, uh, you know,
we had salt water rush in.

- Yeah, we did.
- [laughter]

We looked back at the history.

The Restalls
really felt confident

that they found the flood tunnel

that caused all the
grief for all the years...

there were people
trying to retrieve treasure

- out of the Money Pit.
- Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR: In 1959,

former motorcycle daredevils
Robert and Mildred Restall

moved to Oak Island with
their sons 18-year-old Bobby Jr.

And nine-year-old Ricky
to pursue Robert's dream

of solving the mystery.

Living in small cabins with
no electricity or plumbing,

they braved the elements
for more than five years,

while focusing their
efforts at Smith's Cove.

There, they worked by hand

to find the so-called
convergence point,

where five stone box drains

formed a single flood tunnel
connected to the Money Pit.

But on August 17, 1965,

while working in a


that he believed was close
to reaching the flood tunnel,

Robert, along with
Bobby and two other men,

tragically lost their lives

when poisonous
hydrogen sulfide gas

mysteriously emitted
from the bottom of the pit.

The real tragedy of the
Restalls' work, obviously,

was the passing
of the four people.

But they were convinced,

as you have said, that
they had locked into it.

Yep.

SCOTT: You'll see on the
diagram Steve has up here,

it's... this is the Restall
map overlaid on all the data,

basically, that we
have in Smith's Cove.

Right where he has
his cursor right there

is the convergence point,

what they felt was
the convergence point.

The "convergence
point," meaning... being...?

They uncovered what they
felt were finger drains right there.

And they believe they
followed those finger drains

to a convergence
point, which they believe

led to the flood tunnel
that led to the Money Pit.

STEVE: So, here's
the convergence point

that the Restalls
denote in 1963.

One thing I really like is
that if I project that line,

it projects through
to the Garden Shaft,

and so, potentially, it could be
what we tapped into last year.

SCOTT: The one issue is,

their convergence
point is right where

high tide is along the shore.

So, unfortunately, we
can't dig on that spot.

So, we're gonna have to
come upland a little bit of it

and my hope is we're
gonna find some of the tunnel.

Yeah.

RICK: Unfortunately,

the convergence point

is down at tidal level.

The environmental laws
say you can't, you can't dig

without a very specific permit.

We don't have a permit
to dig there to actually find

the convergence point.

Okay, where do you
want to dig, Scott?

We can start on the
inland side of the road,

so it'll give us a little
bit of a buffer there

between the shore and that.

So, digging in a
new area down there,

I suspect we're looking
to find a lot more.

We're also near the
area where the Restalls

found what they
called a "vertical shaft,"

which they believed
led to the flood tunnel.

They tried to stop the water,
and they came up with a plan

where they were pumping
concrete into this hole in the ground,

basically, that
went vertically down.

When they started
pumping the concrete,

the water started to
slow in the Money Pit.

NARRATOR: In 1961,

Robert Restall Sr.
And his son Bobby Jr.

Were astonished
when they uncovered

what appeared to be a
one-and-a-half-foot diameter,



on the beach at Smith's Cove.

It was Robert's belief

that the so-called
"vertical shaft"

was created by the
original treasure depositors

as a way to shut off

the flow of seawater
into the Money Pit

in order to access
the buried valuables.

In an effort to
clog the flood trap,

Robert mixed concrete
and poured it into the shaft.

But unfortunately,
most of the mixture

did not properly set,

and failed to stop
the water flow.

So, the-the hope
with this would be

to potentially find the
remains of concrete

or something there to know
that we're onto the right spot.

Bottom line, this is
eminently worth doing.

MARTY: Let's make it so.

We have a plan. Let's dig.

NARRATOR: As Rick,
Marty, Scott and Steve

conclude their meeting
in the research center...

- CRAIG: So, is this the spoils pile right here?
- GARY: Yeah.

This is the latest one that
Billy's guys moved around.

NARRATOR: Craig Tester
and metal detection expert

Gary Drayton arrive on Lot 4,

located on the western
side of the island.

GARY: All of this
stuff came from

- the round feature behind us.
- Oh, okay.

NARRATOR: They
are continuing to search

through more than
ten tons of spoils

that were removed one year ago

from a mysterious
rounded stone feature

located several yards
to the east on Lot 5.

A feature where, in
addition to a mortar-like soil

that may have come from
more than 100 feet deep

in the Money Pit area,

the team has unearthed a
number of stunning artifacts,

including a fragment
of a 17th-century

English silver coin,

and a 14th-century
lead barter token

which, like the lead
cross that was discovered

at Smith's Cove in 2017,

may be connected
to the medieval order

of the Knights Templar.

GARY: Let's see what
we've got waiting for us.

-[metal detector
beeping] -[muttering]

[beeping louder]

Oh, nice little

- signal here.
- CRAIG: That sounds good.

That looks easy
digging, right in the rock.

[Craig laughs]

- Okay, we'll start...
- Well, actually,

it's gotta be on top of
the rocks, in the soil.

CRAIG: It's so small
there. Why don't you hit it

with your, uh, pinpointer?

GARY: Yeah, I'll
try to pinpoint it.

[beeping]

Oh, I moved it.

Oh, I see it.

Oh, wow, look at that.

Wow, this is fantastic!

GARY: Oh, wow,
look at that. It's copper?

NARRATOR: While
searching through the spoils

from the mysterious
round feature on Lot 5,

Craig Tester and Gary Drayton

have just made a potentially
important discovery.

GARY: It's a nice
little button, mate.

- Oh, right.
- Look at that.

CRAIG: Nice. Very round.

Does that mean anything to you?

Yeah, these rounded buttons
were normally tunic buttons.

Okay.

GARY: Loop's
still on it, isn't it?

CRAIG: Yeah.

- Time period?
- [exhales]

GARY: Could be
late 1600s to mid-17s

because it is a fancier button.

This is unusual.

- We haven't found any of those.
- CRAIG: Yeah.

NARRATOR: A possible
tunic or garment button?

If Gary is correct that it may

date back to the 17th century,

could it be connected
to the cut English coin

that the team recently
found in the spoils

from the round feature on Lot 5?

And perhaps also help identify

who created the
original Money Pit?

That's a nice little button.

CRAIG: It'll be interesting
once they clean it up,

- what they see.
- GARY: Yeah.

All right, mate, we'll
put this in the bag.

Another great little find.

Whenever we find a button,

I get excited because I
know there's a chance

of getting some
military insignia,

which will hopefully
help the archaeologists

track down what has
been happening on Lot 5,

and hopefully the Money Pit.

-[metal detector
beeps] -Oh, nice little

- signal here.
- Again?

GARY: And it's just there, mate.

CRAIG: Okay.

Sounds like a nonferrous hit.

[beeping]

It's out.

Great sounding signal.

Let's see what we got.

[beeping]

What have we got here?

What have we got here, Craig?

That feels like lead.

I think I know
what that is, mate.

I think that's a coin weight.

- Oh, really?
- That looks...

Yeah, that looks like
an old coin weight.

You see how it's been
sloped down on four sides?

That's what they used to do.

Slope 'em down
and cut pieces off to...

- to weigh coins.
- Okay.

Your average person
wouldn't have one of these,

- would they?
- It would be someone,

kind of higher up.

It would've been the person,

like, in charge of the payroll.

- Mm-hmm.
- I would imagine that

that is an older style.

I mean, coin weights go

way, way back,
before Roman times.

But they went out of fashion,
probably, in the 1700s.

Oh, okay.

GARY: So, this could
be an old coin weight.

NARRATOR: Prior to
modern coin minting processes,

the weight of a coin
would often vary.

Coin weights were
used by merchants

as far back as 305 BC

to ensure the true
value of the coins

they received, as well
as prevent counterfeiting.

Is it possible Gary and Craig

found a lead coin weight?

If so, might it have been used

to divide up sums of treasure,

and perhaps be related
to the high concentration

of precious metals
that have been detected

in the Money Pit area?

GARY: That is
really, really cool.

CRAIG: Well, we'll have to see
what the archaeologists think of it.

GARY: Yeah.

I'll put it in the bag.

There.

All right, mate, good digging.

- Okay.
- All right.

CRAIG: To continue.

GARY: Now,
hopefully, we can find

- a gold coin.
- Sounds good.

NARRATOR: The following morning,

as the core-drilling
operation continues

in the Money Pit area...

ALEX: This is why I
didn't bring a shovel.

GARY: My kind
of shovel, as well.

NARRATOR: Alex
Lagina, Scott Barlow

and other members of the team

arrive at Smith's Cove,

located nearly


SCOTT: All right, guys.

So, Steve's pinned a
spot on the ground here.

X marks the spot, eh?

NARRATOR: Today,
using a survey map

that was created in 1963

by the late treasure
hunter Bobby Restall,

they have chosen a location
just inland from the beach

where they will
attempt to uncover,

and cut off, the flood tunnel

that is believed to feed
seawater into the Money Pit.

For the purpose of this,

we want to look to
see if we can find

- the flood tunnel.
- Yep.

SCOTT: So, the great
thing about this area is

when the Restalls followed what
they believed they were chasing,

which was the finger drains,
they found, more or less,

a vertical shaft,
and they believed

that it went inwards
in the flood tunnel,

because that's where
the water came in.

And the Restalls

pumped a lot of
concrete down there.

They were trying to stop
water there with cement,

and it blew out on them.

-Oh. -So the hope is

that when it blew out, it blew
back into the flood tunnel,

and we're going to find
some evidence of that.

- Yeah.
- ALEX: Any idea about depth?

SCOTT: 30 to 40 feet.

ALEX: If it's 30 to 40

feet deep, we're
not going to be able

to get it with the excavator.

SCOTT: No, we have
the long reach, though.

So, Billy can start
with this machine.

- ALEX: Yeah, makes sense.
- GARY: Well, Billy Buckets,

let's make some
treasure headlines today.

- I'll get ready for the spoils.
- Okay, Gary.

We're ready.

NARRATOR: In case
there are obstructions,

such as stones or boulders
covering the flood system,

Billy Gerhardt
will begin digging

with a 14.5-ton excavator

to clear them away.

Then, he will use a


capable of reaching a
depth of some 60 feet,

to hopefully locate the
believed flood tunnel.

RICK: You know, the search
for answers here on Oak Island,



the water in the Money Pit.

The inability of people
to control the water

in order to retrieve
the treasure at depth.

If we can find the
flood tunnel itself,

then the next step

would be to shut off the water.

SCOTT: Water's coming in

from the land side.

Right here. You can
see it coming in there.

ALEX: Yeah. I guess it could be

coming in from
both sides, really.

Oh, yeah, it is coming in
from both sides. For sure.

SCOTT: We're making
pretty good progress.

Looks like we're about halfway

- where we should hit the flood tunnel.
- SCOTT: Right.

NARRATOR: As the dig
at Smith's Cove continues,

later that morning...

LAIRD: Hey.

- Hi, guys.
- Hello.

- RICK: Good morning.
- LAIRD: Good morning.

Gary Drayton joins Rick Lagina,

archaeologist Laird Niven

and archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan

in the Oak Island Lab.

Rick and Gary are eager to hear

Laird and Emma's analysis

of the button and
possible lead weight

that were found
in the Lot 5 spoils

just one day ago.

What about the button?

- Any info on the button?
- EMMA: Info on the button.

I did do a CT scan,
but that's obscuring

the surface image.

NARRATOR: Earlier today,
Emma scanned both artifacts

using the Skyscan


a device which emits X-ray
radiation to produce detailed

three-dimensional
images of objects.

Additionally, she
also scanned them

with the X-ray fluorescence
spectrometer, or XRF,

to determine the elements
that make up their composition.

It's a copper-iron
alloy, and it does have

a high content of lead in it.

No aluminum, so that's good.

There's no severe
indicators that it is modern.

- Okay, good.
- Yeah.

So, I would fit the composition

to 1700s to early 1800s,

- English.
- Hmm.

So, this is the best
image I could get.

LAIRD: I think what it says

is it points more
towards a gentleman

than a farmer, again.

Yeah, yeah.

LAIRD: And that could
tell us something about

what the round
feature was used for.

We have a lot of questions left

about the round feature.

I think what we're finding now
supports several of the theories

that ties the deposition of
something on Oak Island

by the British military.

I feel that's where the evidence
we have on Lot 5 is leading us.

Okay, the next one.

Yeah, I think that's
probably the most interesting.

What do you think that is?

LAIRD: It's lead.

It weighs 26.2 grams.

Gary thought it
was a coin weight.

GARY: Whenever you find a
shaped piece of metal like this,

especially if it's
bronze or lead,

it's usually a coin weight.

Now, this is large,

but I was thinking
maybe it's a weight

for a large coin.

It would be a very large coin.

When you say... when you
say very large coin, what?

Well, the largest coins

back in the day,

uh, would've been gold.

[Rick laughs]

GARY: This is a great find.

GARY: Maybe it's a
weight for a large coin.

LAIRD: The largest
coins back in the day,

would've been gold, right?

NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island Laboratory,

archaeologist Laird Niven

has just suggested

that the lead artifact that came

from the mysterious
round feature on Lot 5

may have been designed
to weigh coins of great value.

So start looking
at big gold coins

- 'cause that would be great...
- Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Finding one of those on Lot 5.

It'd be a big coin.

Emma has a dissenting
opinion about it.

RICK: Oh, okay.

EMMA: So compositionally,

I do think it's modern.

The phosphorous content,

it's extremely high
and you don't see that

in lead alloys until
mid-20th century.

However,

I don't, you know,
lead isn't my...

- Wheelhouse.
- Yeah, wheelhouse.

So we have a
conundrum because I think

the problem with
it being modern is

we're not finding other
modern artifacts on Lot 5.

GARY: It really does look old.

- RICK: Yeah.
- GARY: I mean that looks really nice and old.

LAIRD: Yeah. I mean,

lead was used for coin
weights, but early on, too.

- Yeah.
- Like earlier,

- and then replaced by, uh, brass.
- Mm-hmm.

LAIRD: In general
across the world,

there seems to be a
transition from lead coin weights

to brass coin weights
somewhere after 1066.

If we can prove that this
trade weight is very old,

it puts the other old
coins we're finding on Lot 5

into a more clearer perspective.

Emma's analysis is
suggesting the lead weight is

more recent than the
archaeologists think,

but this is

a point where we
need to, uh, consolidate

the archaeology and
the science together

and come to a new understanding

of what this artifact is.

So I do think that it is
an excellent candidate

for laser ablation.

Great. That's what
I was gonna say.

- EMMA: Yeah.
- It's fantastic.

NARRATOR: Laser
ablation is a testing method

that uses a high-powered laser

to remove a microscopic
sample from the surface of objects

that are composed of lead.

The sample is then analyzed

to determine its
specific isotope value,

which can reveal not only
where the object may have

originated but also
its approximate age.

Well, I think we can
follow this up in two ways.

The laser ablation

and finding an expert or experts

- to weigh in on this.
- Mm-hmm.

It's a very curious find.

It feels right in your
hand for some reason.

- It's up to you, Gary.
- Yeah. [chuckles]

Well, we got to find
some more stuff.

- We got to find some more stuff.
- Yeah.

EMMA: I'm rooting for you guys.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

ALEX: We have to exhaust

the reach of the excavator
before we move on.

NARRATOR: as the excavation
in search of the flood tunnel

proceeds at Smith's Cove...

- Whereabouts are we?
- Just about to bring up the...

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina arrives

in the Money Pit area
to check on the progress

of the core-drilling operation

in borehole FN-15.5.

The next core or two is
really gonna tell a story.

Ninety-nine.

It's looking
relatively competent.

RICK: Nothing there.

TERRY: Ah...

It's competent,
but it is a little soft.

We still got another ten feet

where we could hope
to see something.

RICK: Yep.

We have a core.

RICK: FN-15.5,

it's the closest we've ever
drilled to the Garden Shaft.

So the possibility

not only of treasure
being here but perhaps

intercepting the flood tunnel.

There's something
going on in this area

that may be associated
with a deposition of treasure.

You have to be very observant.

- 109.
- 109.

TERRY: It looks pretty in situ.

Nothing to write home
about, unfortunately.

I see no structure.

Unfortunately, I
don't see anything.

RICK: We were
hoping to find something

in the Golden Egg that would say

there's something
there at that depth.

We haven't found it yet.

But I-I emphasize "yet."

There's still a high confidence
that something exists

in these areas that
they have delineated.

We just got to keep going.

On we go, for sure.

NARRATOR: As members of
the team plot their next borehole

in the so-called Golden Egg...

PETER: Hey.

RICK: I'll give you this, Peter.

I'm pretty proud of
you for sitting out here

in this kind of heat. [laughs]

NARRATOR: Rick
heads to Smith's Cove

where Billy
Gerhardt is now using

the massive long-reach excavator

in the hopes of uncovering
the legendary flood tunnel

that is believed to feed
seawater into the Money Pit.

We're probably at depth
about seven feet away.

So I think we could be
in anything, any time now.

RICK: Okay, well, then it's just

a matter of keeping
an eye on the ball.

- Right?
- PETER: Yeah.

RICK: If we find
the tunnel of water,

seawater, being
artificially introduced

through a man-made tunnel,

we perhaps can
track that tunnel back

to "X marks the
spot" in the Money Pit.

That's the important
aspect of this,

of this particular endeavor.

RICK: There's a lot
of cobble in that one.

- GARY: Yeah.
- RICK: All kind of uniform.

And that's the description
of the flood tunnel, right?

Uh...

about the size of
a, of a human head,

you know, packed in.

So, there's a chance
we've hit the flood tunnels?

- RICK: That is the description.
- GARY: Of the flood tunnel.

GARY: So there's a chance,
we've hit the flood tunnels?

RICK: This is the first bucket

that has a bunch of
same-size cobbles.

NARRATOR: At Smith's Cove,

Rick Lagina and other
members of the team

have just uncovered
large cobble stones

more than 30 feet
below the beach.

GARY: Yeah. That is a
good observation, Rick.

NARRATOR: Cobble stones
matching the historic description

of the believed
man-made flood tunnel

designed to protect the
Money Pit treasure vault.

RICK: They're all
roughly the same size.

That.

That. That.

This.

This.

- Yeah, those rocks are as big as heads.
- Yeah.

That is the description
of the flood tunnel.

Packed with stone.

Yeah.

The tunnel was
three foot by four foot.

Packed with stones the
size of a human head.

And, and look at how
many there are here,

- just right here.
- Yeah.

And look how sloppy this is.

- There's a lot of water coming in.
- RICK: Exactly.

- The cobbles should extend the whole way.
- Yeah.

Because they didn't want
it, you know, closing off,

so it should be
packed with stone

all the way to the Money Pit.

That's the first bucket
that we saw that...

Let's come over
on this side, Rick.

Can you see where I
took that last bucket?

You see where the water's
coming out down the hole?

RICK: Yeah.

That's, that's where
the rocks came from.

But if you scoop there,
that ground is pretty cobbly.

RICK: It's almost like, it
looks like, that was dug out.

BILLY: Yeah.

RICK: I would
love nothing better

than to confirm

the old narrative, i.e.

that there are box drains

and a flood tunnel
system that might lead

to a chamber or a void,

or a place where
treasure was deposited.

The Restalls were onto
something in Smith's Cove

and that something might help
us as we put X's on the ground

in the Money Pit
for the caisson work.

I think we should

take a scoop there and
maybe have Steve come down.

I would dig wider on both sides
and see if more cobbles come up.

If we found the same
cobbles, that'd be interesting.

But we still have to
clean it out deeper

because that's the line there.

- BILLY: Yeah.
- So, we got more work to do.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The following morning,

as a sudden rain storm
has caused the team

to temporarily halt the
dig at Smith's Cove...

ALEX: We got a core.

NARRATOR: in
the Money Pit area,

Alex Lagina and
members of the team

continue their strategic
core-drilling operation

in the hopes of locating
the source of precious metals

that have been detected between


TERRY: No gold,

no treasure chamber
can evade us.

We have to be sure that
we've covered the ground

and that's what we're doing.

NARRATOR: They
are currently drilling

borehole GN-16 located

in the so-called Golden Egg

and just 13 feet north
of the Garden Shaft

where the team encountered

a possible flood
tunnel one year ago.

- TERRY: You okay?
- [groans]

ALEX: We're
drilling in this area

where we have
very few boreholes.

So that's exciting
to me because this is

fresh ground, fresh territory

with a, a very
plausible indication

that there might be
treasure buried here.



- 109.
- TERRY: Thank you.

TERRY: GN-16.99
to 109 in front of us.

Let's see what we got. [grunts]

Sadly, it's a little firm.

Not really terribly
impressed, I wouldn't say.

No water passage at this point.

ALEX: On the flip side,
what did they drill into

to cause the
Garden Shaft to flood

if this can't transmit water?

It's got to be a
structure, then.

The-the evidence
tends to lean that way.

I'd certainly love to perforate

- that structure...
- ALEX: Yeah.

- Absolutely.
- TERRY: and get some

empirical evidence
of its existence.

This is great
stuff to tunnel in.

ALEX: Yeah.

- Hi, Craig.
- Hey. How deep?

- 119.
- All right.

- Anything above it?
- Nope.

Soft or anything?

- Nothing.
- Okay.

- Thanks, guys.
- Still seeing, you know,

usually it falls open

and it's all saturated.

- ALEX: 129 or 119?
- ADAM: 119. I got...

This has a little bit of sand,

but there's still
some silt in it,

so it wouldn't carry much water.

ALEX: Is it soft
enough to indicate

that we're next to
a tunnel or shaft?

No, it doesn't give us
an answer or a solution.

CRAIG: I think
I'd call it quits.

I'd rather get moving
to the next location.

NARRATOR: Although
the team has yet to find

hard evidence of
the precious metals

that have been detected
in the Golden Egg,

they still have nearly


of the area to investigate.

RICK: Dr. Spooner and
Dr. Michel have suggested all along

that there are
concentrations of metals

in a very well-defined area
that may lead to a treasure.

Unfortunately, the results
have been less than positive,

so I'm a little disappointed.

But we're not
giving up on finding

whatever this thing is that's
gonna come out of the ground.

CRAIG: I'm gonna head on
out and, uh, talk to Dr. Spooner.

Talk to you guys
later. Give me a call.

- ALEX: Okay, yeah, we'll keep you posted.
- Okay.

TERRY: Onward and downward.

Well, guys, we all
know that we've followed

the water sample
testing protocols

to try to determine where
to find the "treasure," really.

And, uh, Ian and Fred

proposed the so-called
Golden Egg area

we are currently drilling.

NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island w*r room,

geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner

has asked to meet
with Rick Lagina,

Craig Tester and other
members of the team

after conducting new
groundwater testing

for precious metals in
the so-called Golden Egg.

RICK: Ian has some serious
concerns about progression

of the drill program
and-and where we locate it.

And so, Ian, I'm gonna
turn it over to you.

IAN: So, the water samples
I've taken in the Egg,

we-we haven't seen any
data at all for precious metals.

That's the challenge
we're facing.

So, why? Because this anomaly
we're chasing is precious metal.

And the metals
accumulate in the water

because it's
probably coming from

the bottom of a
shaft or a tunnel,

where it is sealed,
quite nicely.

And so, the problem
with just continuing

to drill in the Egg is,
when we do penetrate it

with a drill, that
water disseminates.

That anomaly disseminates.

We call it, in my world,
a dispersal plume.

And so, our worry is
if we continue to drill,

if something is happening
there, uh, we could dilute it.

We could confuse ourselves.

NARRATOR: A
geological dispersal plume

refers to small particles
contained in water,

in this case, particles of
gold, silver and other metals,

that are possibly being
stirred up and spread out

by the team's
core-drilling operation.

This makes it
difficult to detect

just where their
ultimate source,

such as a treasure chest,

may be located within
or near the Golden Egg.

RICK: What does that
mean for the drill program?

- How do we proceed?
- IAN: Well,

we'd like to stand down on
drilling in that area right now

and let this site sort
of settle, if you will.

You want cessation of
drilling within the Golden Egg.

Yes.

We'd like to send in
those new water samples.

We'd like to see what
those samples show,

and then be able
to look at the data.

And give you folks a sense
of what the potential is,

if we do do further
drilling there,

for some kind of success.

Yeah.

Well, I think we have to
do that, because otherwise,

there's no point in
chasing the data.

- BOTH: Yes.
- STEVE: Yeah.

RICK: Dr. Fred and Dr. Spooner

are suggesting that we
cease drilling activities

in the area of the Golden Egg

because we don't
want to dilute the water,

and every time
we put a hole down,

you're introducing water
as part of that drill program.

So, we need to
gather more evidence

to actually bingo where
a treasure might reside.

Hopefully, the doctors can
look at all of the samples

we obtained and come back
and say, "Hey guys, we found it.

Here's where you need to look."

So, yeah. That's where we stand.

- Okay.
- I think we've all

- got work to do.
- Yeah.

- CRAIG: Okay.
- IAN: Okay. Thank you.

STEVE: Thanks.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

- RICK: Is that another timber?
- GARY: Oh, it is, yeah.

Eyes and boots.

RICK: That's what it takes.

NARRATOR: at Smith's Cove,

while searching
for more evidence

of the legendary flood tunnel,

Rick and other
members of the team

have unearthed a number
of mysterious wooden planks.

RICK: It is amazing how these
boards are all the same dimension.

GARY: Wow, you really are
the chairman of the boards.

Where do you think these
pieces of wood come from, Rick?

Certainly no later
than the Restalls.

Yes. Maybe they just...

- repurposed them.
- Maybe.

- [metal detector beeping]
- I-I don't find it unreasonable

that they would, you know,
take whatever they found

in order to facilitate the
work they were trying to do.

If they found something,
an old shaft or something,

and they were doing
work on their own,

- you know they would salvage whatever they could.
- Yep.

NARRATOR: Because Rick and
the team are excavating an area

where the Restall
family believed

that the legendary flood
tunnel that feeds seawater

into the Money Pit
might be located,

could Rick be correct
that they used this lumber

as part of their efforts
to stop the booby trap

more than 50 years ago?

Or could it have
been placed here

by whoever created the
flood tunnel long ago?

♪ ♪

RICK: Billy. Hold up.

What do you make of that?

- Cement.
- BILLY: Yeah.

RICK: Wow.

This could be connected
to the flood tunnel.

- RICK: Cement?
- BILLY: Yeah.

Gary, Peter.

NARRATOR: At Smith's Cove,

while searching for a
man-made flood tunnel

that is believed
to divert seawater

into the Oak Island Money Pit...

GARY: What have you found, Rick?

Well, you know what
we've been looking for, right?

The story of the
Restalls pouring cement.

NARRATOR: Rick
Lagina has just made

a potentially
significant discovery.

- Is it concrete?
- Yep.

- GARY: It's good eyeballing.
- RICK: Mm-hmm.

I would remind you
that the Restalls,

when they tried to shut off

the supply, if you will,

of water for flooding
the Money Pit,

they poured concrete
down into the shaft,

and then,
supposedly, it let loose.

NARRATOR: Could
Rick Lagina be correct

that he has found a
piece of the concrete

that Robert Restall made
more than 50 years ago

in an attempt to clog
up the vertical shaft?

If so, might it offer
more evidence

that the team is close to
uncovering the booby trap

that leads directly

to the fabled Money
Pit treasure vault?

To find concrete

in the area of the associated

flood tunnel line,
well, that's exactly

what we're looking for.

And if we can find it,
actually find the tunnel

and put eyes on it,
then we can try to do

what they tried to do:

shut off the water
once and for all.

- I think we need to take that to Emma.
- Mm-hmm.

Maybe put it in the
XRD and she could,

from an analysis
perspective, determine

- how old that type of concrete is.
- Mm-hmm.

It's definitely worth
testing for sure.

RICK: What it says is
that there's a possibility

that there's more and
we should definitely

keep our eyes
open for it because

you're not gonna
find it with that.

-No. -Unfortunately.

It's gonna be the
twin optical scanners.

Well, think about
what this may mean.

We're doing sonic
drilling in the Money Pit.

We're looking for
locations for the caissons.

We're trying to
prove the old story.

The old story leads

to an increased belief

that there was a
flood tunnel system.

The flood tunnel system,
if we can delineate it,

will lead us to the Money Pit.

The Restalls
started this process

and we need to finish it.

When you endeavor
to do something

and you make a commitment

with something
that is that impactful

that this young
man and his father

and two others
lost their lives...

if you can't tie into that,

that sacrifice, the
ultimate sacrifice,

then maybe you
shouldn't be here.

And I think all of us on
some level, every day,

live that because it's important
to pay respect to their efforts.

And certainly in this endeavor,
that's what we try to do.

We're slowly working
towards the "X marks the spot."

So this could be a
very important clue.

- PETER: Yeah.
- And talk about concrete evidence, eh?

- PETER: Mm-hmm.
- RICK: Here it is.

Every clue builds
on another clue,

which ultimately,
hopefully will get us

to where we want to go.

All right, let's
get the results.

First step, bring that to Emma.

- Yeah.
- See what she has to say.

All right, I'll let
you guys know.

And we'll keep working.

- Okay, let's get back to work.
- GARY: Yeah.

NARRATOR: For Rick,
Marty, Craig and their team,

perseverance is perhaps
the most valuable asset

that will enable them to solve

the 229-year-old
Oak Island mystery.

While setbacks are
likely to continue,

they will leave
no stone unturned

in order to find new pathways
to the answers that they seek.

And with every new
clue that is unearthed,

a legendary treasure

may soon be within their reach.

Next time on The
Curse Of Oak Island...

- RICK: That's a beam.
- Yep.

BILLY: And somebody
stacked those cobbles.

This might be a part
of the flood tunnel.

Wow.

JACK:
If that is strapping,

it could be on a chest.

Yes, now that is interesting.

We're gonna insert this radar
to look for voids.

CRAIG:
Okay.



we get a void space.

This could be
the fabled offset chamber.

♪ ♪