09x04 - Spoils Alert

[bunniefuu]

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

- SCOTT: Whoa!
- TERRY: Wow!

If it's a shaft,
it's a very large shaft.

- (detector beeps)
- What the heck is that?

- To me, it looks like a chisel.
- Wow!

(chuckles): What the hell
are these doing on Oak Island?

The composition of the rocks
are quite unusual.

Whoa. Au.

- That's gold.
- (chuckles)

CHRISTA: The really interesting
part of this particular object

is that there are
several gold flakes on it.

- Wow.
- (chuckles softly)

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 d*ed

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend,
one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

It is the start of
a new day on Oak Island.

- So, this is it, eh, Laird?
- LAIRD: This is it.

This is the scene
of the problem.

- Ground zero.
- (chuckles): Ground zero.

NARRATOR: But unlike most
others during the summer months,

it is one that begins
with an unusual absence

of search activity
in an area that

brothers Rick and Marty Lagina
and their team

believe may be critical to
solving a 226-year-old mystery:

the triangle-shaped swamp.

MARTY:
Well...

We were working.
This is all under permit.

- Mm-hmm.
- Um...

Looking to see what's here

- in the southeast corner.
- Yeah.

- And I worked in this unit behind us.
- MARTY: Mm-hmm.

LAIRD:
And we found Mi'kmaq pottery.

- Indigenous stuff.
- Indigenous stuff?

- Yes.
- Yeah.

LIZ:
What you got?

LAIRD:
I have a piece of pottery

but I think
it's really delicate.

- Okay.
- This is definitely Mi'kmaq.

NARRATOR:
One week ago,

while investigating
a newly unearthed stone feature

in the southeast corner
of the swamp,

archaeologist Laird Niven
discovered pottery

that was made
by Indigenous Mi'kmaq people

between 500 and 2,500 years ago.

Basically,
Acadia First Nation got hold of

Community, Culture and Heritage.

NARRATOR:
When Laird reported the finds

to the provincial department of
Community, Culture and Heritage,

he was given a stunning mandate

to share with the Laginas
and their partner, Craig Tester.

The archeologists asked
that we stop down.

I.E. you must cease and desist
immediately.

NARRATOR: Now, until an
assessment of both sites can be made

by representatives of
the Indigenous authorities,

the Oak Island team has agreed
to cease conducting

any search activity along
the eastern border of the swamp,

also known as the buffer zones.

And so,
what we're constricted by is,

we call this the center
of the circle, the buffer.

- If we go out 120 feet all around...
- Mm.

Is-is kind of the no-go zone.

- Yes, exactly.
- That's the center?

- LAIRD: Yeah.
- MARTY: What is this stone feature?

Well, I think you can guess that
there's human-placed rock here.

- It looks like it. Not as clear as that, honestly.
- IAN: Yeah. No.

- LAIRD: No.
- IAN: But I think it's again some kind of attempt to,

in the interface
between land and wetland,

- produce a dry... a dry surface.
- A platform of some sort?

Platform or possibly
even a continuation of a...

To me, this looks like the pav...
The original paved area.

- IAN: Yeah. - RICK: Quite irregular.
- MARTY: Me, too.

This was an incredibly
active area.

The stone road tells us that.

NARRATOR: Of the sites
affected by the new restrictions,

perhaps the one that is
the most critical

to Rick and Marty's
investigation is

the mysterious stone road...
Or possible ship's wharf...

First uncovered last year

in the southeast corner
of the swamp.

This is one right here, too.

GARY:
I think we found a barrel here.

NARRATOR: It was here,
over the past three weeks,

that the team recovered
not only evidence

of a possible shipping
operation,

including parts of
cargo barrels and tools

used to construct
wooden sailing vessels...

That right there could be
an outlet that heads

- towards the Money Pit.
- Yeah.

But also a new stone feature

which according to surveyor
Steve Guptill

may be part of a pathway

heading directly
toward the Money Pit.

I'm not surprised
to find evidence

of the Mi'kmaq, uh,
on Oak Island.

But the stones are
really puzzling to me.

I think we can discount
the Mi'kmaq from doing it.

We have no record of them doing
anything like that.

However,
we're not digging in there

until we get clearance

from the Mi'kmaq
Rights Initiative

and Community, Culture
and Heritage.

Okay, well, we're gonna do
what's right.

We're gonna continue to do
what's right.

But we have to look after
our own rights, too.

- Yeah.
- So, this has, this has thrown

a major complication
into things, from my standpoint.

Don't you agree?

- Well, it certainly hampers the search.
- Yeah.

Especially when
you're turning up all these...

things that were relevant to us.

We're starting to find
some amazing things

in the southeast corner
of the swamp.

And all of a sudden,
now it's all shut down.

We want to follow the law.
We will follow the law.

Being shut down in an area
that hasn't yet

revealed all its secrets
is frustrating.

RICK: Because there are certain
areas now that are off limits,

I think we have to
refocus and readjust

and maybe look in areas
that previously we dismissed.

We'll just keep moving forward.

There-There's no obstacle
that cannot be overcome.

Okay, well, we'll deal with it.

- All right.
- All right.

- Let's get after it.
- LAIRD: Yeah.

NARRATOR: While Rick and Marty
finish the meeting at the swamp...

TERRY:
Okay. Here we go. This is D-1.

Less than a quarter mile
to the east, on Lot 18...

More coming in.

What do you got?

- 85.
- 85?

Geologist Terry Matheson
and project manager Scott Barlow

continue supervising
the team's efforts to find

what people have been
looking for since 1795...

The fabled Money Pit
treasure vault.

- Is it fairly dense?
- No. I've seen tighter.

We're getting some of
those little marker horizons.

NARRATOR: Today, they are
drilling a new six-inch-wide borehole

known as D-1.

A borehole located in an area

that has been dubbed
the C-1 cluster.

It is here, near
the four-foot-wide C-1 shaft,

that the team has recently found
not only evidence

of man-made tunnels
at a depth of nearly 90 feet

but also...
Through water-sample testing...

Traces of both silver and gold.

Pretty Mother Nature-ish.

NARRATOR: As Terry,
Scott and the team continue

retrieving core samples
at ten-foot intervals,

if they obtain
more compelling evidence

of possible treasure,

Rick, Marty and their partner
Craig Tester intend to dig

a number of ten-foot-wide

steel-cased shafts
across the area

in order to retrieve it.

TERRY:
D-1, still no tunnels.

Our next run still has
the potential to hit,

you know, uh,
some wood from a tunnel.

We chased that tunnel right
across the north side of C-1.

- Yep.
- And, I mean, this is, this is our depth where we brought up

the iron that contains gold.

That's right.
We're five feet away from D2.

CHARLES:
There's something in here.

CRAIG: Oh, there's
a piece of flat metal.

CHARLES:
Yeah, looks like it.

NARRATOR:
Two weeks ago,

while drilling
in nearby borehole D2,

the team not only recovered
a piece of metal

from a depth of some 88 feet

that contained
a significant amount of gold...

but also wood
that was carbon-dated

to as early as 1488.

How deep did you get, Adam?

- 99.
- 99? Okay.

More to come. 89 to 99.

NARRATOR:
Based on these discoveries,

the team is hopeful
that they may be close to

not only pinpointing
the original Money Pit

but also
the fabled treasure vault.

- What is that? That's 89.
- 89 feet.

Just caught the edge
of something, it looks like.

SCOTT:
Whoa!

TERRY:
Interesting all the sudden. Wow.

SCOTT:
We weren't expecting that.

- That's more than one beam.
- Yep.

Just by the initial looks,
I would say shaft.

TERRY: It's a shaft
or a tunnel, for sure.

We've hit a lot of tunnels
in and around the 90-foot mark.

NARRATOR:
A possible tunnel?

Or a shaft some 90 feet deep
in the area

where the team also
recently found evidence

of silver and gold?

Has the team once again
encountered an ancient tunnel

that might be leading
to the original Money Pit?

Or could it be
the Money Pit itself?

If it's a shaft, okay,
it's a very large shaft.

If it's a tunnel,

it matches very well
with our tunnel intersections

- at 90 feet in the C-1 cluster.
- Yeah.

TERRY:
Let's, uh, give Rick a call.

SCOTT:
Let's do it.

NARRATOR:
In the Money Pit area...

(whirring)

Hey, Rick. How're you doing?

- Hey, how are you, Rick?
- Hi, guys.

So, you came just
at the right time.

- Good.
- This hole just got very interesting.

Yeah, I can see that.

Rick Lagina has just arrived
after being alerted

by geologist Terry Matheson
and project manager Scott Barlow

of a large amount of wood
discovered at a depth

of some 90 feet in borehole D-1.

TERRY: We're thinking
possibly intersection of a tunnel,

but we're leaning shaft.

You're now in an area
where we had

very little inclination that
there may be something up here.

- Yes.
- Now we have empirical evidence

- that there's something in this area.
- Yeah.

- So, I think we have to continue.
- Yeah.

We certainly have found
man-made workings

at the most northerly part of
the Money Pit.

So, on that basis alone,
it's significantly interesting.

The hope, of course,
is that it is original work

and, thus, the implication
that we are near

to a depositional target.

We'll see where it goes.

- TERRY: Follow the evidence.
- RICK: Yep.

Follow the evidence.

NARRATOR:
While the drilling operation

in the Money Pit area
continues...

later that afternoon...

Scott Barlow joins
Oak Island historian

Charles Barkhouse,

and heavy equipment operator
Billy Gerhardt on Lot 18

at a location that just may be
holding vital clues

that could help solve
the Oak Island mystery.

- Hey, Bill. - Hey, Billy.
- Hey, guys.

Been a rainy day.

- Washing the excavator, yep.
- (chuckles)

You know,
as this pad was leveled off,

all the spoils from Dunfield
that were still...

I mean, that's what the remains
of these piles over here,

this is all Dunfield's spoils.

- CHARLES: Yeah.
- Right.

So, you dig this up
and have Gary go over it.

We-we may find something.

NARRATOR:
In November of 1965,

geologist Robert Dunfield
conducted

the largest excavation ever
in the Money Pit area

by digging a 100-foot-wide
by 140-foot-deep hole

in a failed attempt to find
the fabled treasure vault.

Using a 70-ton digging crane

with a massive clamshell bucket,

Dunfield had his team
feverishly pile tons of soil

and remnants of old shafts
off to the side.

However, he never sorted
through them for clues

nor to verify if the large
pieces of wooden beams

were from past searchers
or from much earlier works

to deposit something
of great value.

MARTY: We could find Rick's
fabled one thing in these spoil piles.

We could find anything.

NARRATOR: Now,
because the team is currently

unable to work in the swamp,

it is Rick,
Marty and Craig's hope

that searching through
the so-called Dunfield spoils

will lead to the discovery
of important clues

and potentially objects
of great value.

Hey, Charles.

Joining the effort
to scan and search

through the spoils
as Billy digs through them

are Craig Tester's
stepson Jack Begley

and metal detection expert
Gary Drayton.

Billy, you want me over there
doing the spoils?

Yeah, I spread it thin
all over there.

So I'll let you
go over that once,

and then we'll start making
some piles.

Okay, mate.
Let's find something good.

- Hope so. - JACK: Go get 'er, Gar.
- GARY: All right, mate.

I'll be calling you.

We're hoping to find an artifact
that is an aha moment.

I don't know what that would be.

It may be some woodwork

shaped by the hand of man

that comes up
with a very early date.

(detector beeps)

Hang on, Billy.
I might have a signal here.

- CHARLES: Something good, Gary?
- (beeping)

- (beeping)
- What the heck is that?

What'd you find, Gary?

I think it's a chisel
by the look of it.

Here, come show us.

GARY:
It's got some heft to it.

Um, to me,
it looks like a chisel.

I-I don't believe it's a spike.

Feel how heavy that is.

It's an oldie 'cause it's got
some heft to it.

CHARLES:
Yeah.

Well, what would you use
a chisel like that for?

It's hard to say, Jack,
what they were using it for.

Yeah. To me, a chisel like that
is for doing the finer work.

CHARLES: I agree with Bill
on that. It's not to break rocks.

It's for detail work.

- Yeah.
- This is a good candidate

to be depositor-related.

- Maybe.
- You know the history

- of the carved stones on Oak Island, mate.
- Yes.

NARRATOR: Ever since the Oak
Island mystery began 226 years ago,

searchers have found a number
of mysterious carved stones

both on the surface
and buried deep below ground.

Perhaps the most notable
of those

was the legendary 90 Foot Stone,

discovered at that depth
in the Money Pit back in 1804.

The greenish-gray slab
reportedly had a series

of strange hieroglyphic symbols
carved across it,

which were translated to read:

"Forty feet below,
two million pounds are buried."

Although the stone has been
missing since the early 1900s,

is it possible that
the team may have discovered

the tool that was used to carve
its cryptic message

in the spoils that were
excavated from the Money Pit

more than half a century ago?

Well, we'll definitely get it
checked out.

- Yeah, for sure.
- I mean, it's not written in stone what it is.

- But it... it looks like...
- (chuckles) No pun intended.

- A hand point chisel to me.
- Yeah.

JACK:
Good job, Gary.

NARRATOR:
The following morning,

as the operations
at the Money Pit area

and the Dunfield spoils
continue...

GARY: We've recovered a
nice top-pocket find on Lot 16.

In the research center,
brothers Rick and Marty Lagina

and other members of the team

have invited geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner to examine

a potentially important artifact
recently discovered on Lot 16.

- What do you think?
- Uh, it's not natural.

I mean, I've been
around Nova Scotia a lot,

you know, looking at rocks.

This stone isn't what I've seen
around here at all.

I believe we have got
another g*n stone.

- Well, it sure looks like it.
- Oh, a g*n stone? - GARY: Yep.

Do you remember the one
that Michael John found

on the wash table?

- It was similar size, wasn't it?
- Yeah.

Whoa, look at that!

NARRATOR:
Two weeks ago,

while searching for evidence
of a stone pathway

between the swamp
and the Money Pit,

Rick and Gary discovered
the stone artifact,

which Gary believes could be
a kind of ancient projectile

fired from small canons.

- Steve, look at this.
- Yes.

NARRATOR: Curiously,
it was nearly identical

to one discovered last year
in the spoils of borehole E5.25

that were excavated
from the Money Pit area in 2019.

MARTY: Lo and behold,
they're virtually identical

in terms of shape and density.

These rocks are
really interesting.

They really are.

Did you see the one Michael John
found a few years ago?

No. No, no, no.

- We have it here, right?
- Yeah, it's actually here.

Oh, wow.

MARTY: Very similar.
Not-not in texture but in size.

GARY:
And if they are g*n stones,

roughly the same caliber
by the look of it.

The main thing to me is,
that regardless of

where they're from,
they're not from-from here.

That's-that's important.

I know somebody
I can take these to

who will provide you with a lot
more information than I can.

This is his arena.

- Yeah.
- But this is very, very odd.

Look, whenever you can find
something like that

and get an expert to weigh in on
it, who knows what we'll learn.

Well, that sounds like
a great first step to me.

- Yeah.
- Good.

Make it so.

- IAN: Okay.
- MARTY: Fantastic.

(beeping)

- Find anything?
- I got a hit here,

but I-I'm trying to determine
whether it's a screw

- in the table or...
- Here, want me to lift it up?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

(beeping)

- Yeah, there's something in here.
- Something there.

CHARLES:
Yep.

(beeping)

- There you go.
- It's in this piece, whatever it is.

A little piece of metal.

What the heck that is...
I don't know.

NARRATOR:
A metal object,

also discovered with possible
evidence of a wooden tunnel

some 75 feet deep
in borehole CD4.5?

SCOTT:
Great find, Charles.

CHARLES: We're very
interested in the C-1 cluster area

because we're getting
a lot of wood hits,

and we're finding
pieces of metal.

- Bag it, tag it, and have Kelly look at it.
- Bag it, tag it. Yep.

But what's even
more interesting about it

is we have no historical record

of any work being done
in this area.

- Hey, Rick.
- Hi, guys.

NARRATOR:
After being alerted of the new

and potentially
important discoveries,

Rick Lagina arrives
to inspect them

and receive a detailed report.

So, CD4.5,

uh, we hit wood
at about 74 and 75 feet.

And we also found
a chunk of metal.

This was at 75 and a half feet.

It's encrusted, so it's
really hard to tell what it is,

but it does have
some weight to it.

Yeah, it does, it does. Yeah.

- It's hard to say what it is.
- CHARLES: Yeah.

- Certainly not from the rig.
- No, no. No. - CHARLES: No.

- RICK: Another mystery.
- CHARLES: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Although finding
evidence of a tunnel, along with metal,

at a depth of 75 feet
in the Money Pit area

offers the team hope
that they could be close

to a major discovery,

three weeks ago,

while drilling in borehole D2

just 13 and a half feet
to the southwest,

at a depth of some 90 feet,

they also obtained evidence

of another wooden tunnel that
dated to as early as 1488,

as well as a mysterious
piece of metal

that contained
a significant amount of gold.

Is it possible that both of
these potential tunnels

could be connected to
the original Money Pit?

I think, based on
everything we've learned,

the interesting metals in D2,

- perhaps this will be a surprise as well.
- Could be.

- Okay.
- So, I'm gonna take this on the archaeology trailer

- and then put this under XRF.
- Okay. - Great.

- RICK: All right. Thank you, guys.
- CHARLES: Yeah.

- TERRY: See you, Rick.
- RICK: Yep.

NARRATOR:
Later that afternoon,

following their discovery
at CD4.5...

- MARTY: Hey!
- Hey.

Rick and Charles meet
with Rick's brother Marty

and professional conservator
Kelly Bourassa

at the archeology trailer.

What do you guys got?

I found another piece of metal.

MARTY:
This could be good.

The unusual thing is
75 and a half feet

because the tunnel horizon is
86 to 93.

- Yeah.
- So, what's that doing there?

- Yeah.
- Let's see it.

Huh.

KELLY: Looks cement-like
on-on the surface.

I don't think there's...
Much cleaning can be done.

Nonetheless, we can still, uh,

we can still test it
with the XRF.

- CHARLES: Okay.
- MARTY: See what it says. - Absolutely.

NARRATOR: Using an X-ray
fluorescence spectrometer,

or XRF, Kelly will conduct
a chemical analysis

of the encrusted object.

The device works by emitting
nondestructive radiation,

which can identify the elemental
composition of metal objects.

There we go.

MARTY:
Iron, that's not a shock.

Yeah.

MARTY:
Whoa.

Au. That's gold.

(chuckles)

MARTY:
How 'bout that.

MARTY: So, this piece
has some gold

NARRATOR:
In the archaeology trailer...

At 0.2 percent.

Au. Auric. Gold.

- CHARLES: That's exciting.
- That's great.

Rick, Marty and members of
the team have just verified that

the metal object unearthed
earlier today

from borehole CD4.5,

which was discovered
along with evidence

of a tunnel some 75 feet deep

may also be connected

to the legendary Oak Island
treasure.

- RICK: I'm curious in the trace metals, right?
- KELLY: Sure.

Because it may be a clue as to
how old the metal is itself.

It's a very shallow depth,
though, 75 and a half feet.

- That's great.
- Yeah.

I've always felt
the most logical solution

to this whole thing is
an offset chamber.

I mean, how does a piece of iron

from 75 feet down
get gold on it?

Maybe we're near it here.

NARRATOR: Could Marty
Lagina's notion be correct?

Is it possible that the team
has discovered a tunnel,

connected to
the original Money Pit shaft,

which could serve
as a secret entrance

to a vast treasure chamber?

If so, could that explain

why the team has obtained
trace evidence

of silver and gold
in a number of flooded boreholes

across the area they have dubbed
the C-1 cluster?

- We need to bring that up to, uh, Dr. Brosseau for sure.
- Mm-hmm.

I-I want to do it yesterday.

- (laughter)
- (chuckles): Let's bring this...

- Let's bring it up there.
- Sure.

I've always felt like
the most likely reason

for construction
of the Money Pit was as a decoy

to an offset chamber or
as access to an offset chamber

that would be difficult
to find from the surface.

So, finding these pieces
of metal with gold on them,

away from the traditional Money
Pit area, is very exciting.

RICK: Charles and I
will go to the drill table,

and we will be back
with more of this.

MARTY:
Good. Find some more.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The following morning,

while the
core-drilling operation

at the Money Pit continues...

MIKE:
Going down!

RICK:
Hey, guys.

- Gentlemen, hello.
- Hello.

Dr. Raeside, um,
welcome to the w*r room.

Rick, Marty and members
of the team are meeting

via video conference
with Dr. Robert Raeside,

a professor of geology
and Earth science

at Acadia University
in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

He has conducted
compositional analysis

of the two believed g*n stones

recently discovered
on Oak Island.

One, which was found
just two weeks ago

along a possible pathway

between the swamp
and the Money Pit,

and a second
unearthed two years ago

from the Money Pit itself.

So, you looked at
these two round,

small-ish rocks.

Um, what is,
what is your opinion?

Well, when I first saw the rocks

I anticipated that
they were probably

something that had been picked
up from a beach somewhere.

But then, I got a chance
to look at them

with a hand lens.

If there are small
green minerals in each one,

um, my best guess is that

these are actually
olivine bearing rocks.

And olivine gabbro
and an olivine basalt.

A basalt is a-a rock
that erupted volcanically,

and a gabbro is a rock that

never quite made it
to the surface.

Would that be likely
to be found on Oak Island?

- Definitely not.
- Ah, I like that.

And the composition of the rocks
are quite unusual

for anything I would expect
to see here in Nova Scotia.

Where else in the world
might they be?

They form generally in, uh,
hot spot volcanic island chains.

So something like the Azores
or the Canary Islands

would be the obvious places,
I would think.

And those two islands,
they're synonymous

with transatlantic adventurers,

conquistadores.

- Yeah.
- Canary Islands, Spanish. Spain.

Azores, Portugal.

NARRATOR:
The g*n stones?

Possibly of Portuguese origin?

Although Nova Scotia was known
to have been visited

by explorers representing
numerous European nations

between the 15th
to late 18th centuries,

numerous clues have been
discovered on Oak Island

that suggest both
the Spanish and Portuguese

may have been responsible
for the construction

of the Money Pit.

Because both nations conquered
the indigenous civilizations

across Central
and South America,

and then shipped
vast quantities of gold,

silver and jewels

back to their home countries
in Europe,

many treasure hunters,

including Dan Blankenship
and Fred Nolan,

came to believe
that rogue sea captains

may have hidden a portion
of their plunder on Oak Island.

What I found just blew me away.

Like,
I was pretty much speechless.

I've never seen anything of
that magnitude in Nova Scotia.

NARRATOR:
Three weeks ago,

environmental scientist
and historian Terry Deveau,

presented the team
with detailed research

about the massive
stone wharf discovered

one year ago in the swamp

and his incredible theory about
the origin of its builders.

This is a type of road

that was built in Europe
in the 1500s.

- CHARLES: Wow.
- What comes to my mind is the Portuguese.

NARRATOR: Is it possible
that these g*n stones,

one of which was unearthed
in the Money Pit area,

represent more key clues
that could help identify

just who was behind
the Oak Island mystery?

So, look, uh, Doctor.

- This is phenomenal from our standpoint.
- Stunning.

I mean, if you had to guess, uh,

and pardon my sort of
language here,

but what the hell are
these doing on Oak Island?

A perfectly spherical
chunk of these rocks

transported somehow
to Oak Island

would be very unusual.

I mean, it seems like one in
a million that these are there.

That one came from the ground
in the Money Pit,

- that's the crazy part of it.
- MARTY: Yeah.

Well, it came out of the caisson
that was put down

right next to C-1.

RICK:
These two stone sh*t,

they are not native
to Nova Scotia.

These are from two geographic
regions that are tightly aligned

with Portuguese and Spain,

and we now can say to ourselves,

well, what theories align
with possibly this stone sh*t

originating from
these-these areas.

- That's phenomenal. Really.
- Yeah.

I mean, that is
absolutely astounding.

These two little cannonballs are

one of the most significant
things we've found

on the island
because they were phased out

from use in the early 1600s.

And so, we have
a way-back-there date again.

That was a great bit of data
for us.

And Dr. Raeside,
I just want to say thank you

on behalf of
the whole crew here.

Well, you're very welcome.
I was glad to be able to help.

- Thank you.
- Thanks. - Take care.

IAN:
Thanks.

NARRATOR: Following the team's
meeting in the w*r room,

and while the core-drilling
operation continues,

in the C-1 cluster...

GARY:
Let's find some history, mate.

Metal detection expert
Gary Drayton...

Winkle a good find.

Along with Jack Begley

and heavy equipment operator
Billy Gerhardt

continue searching
through the nearby spoils

excavated from the Money Pit
by Robert Dunfield back in 1965.

- (beeping) - See the little
bits of wood there, though,

- in that bucket, Jack?
- JACK: Yeah.

BILLY:
It's consistently wood.

And if you go a little further
to your right in the di...

In the bucket,
there's a real dark wood.

- And it's right at the bottom?
- It's right in those rocks.

- Right? You saw me scraping the rocks.
- Mixed with the rocks. Yeah.

You see the wood,
that is right at that layer.

That cut looks intentional.
Don't you think?

Oh, yeah. No, it's cut.

It's hand-hewn.

That's... it's too thick
for dimensional, too. Right?

NARRATOR: A hand-hewn
or manually cut timber?

Because mechanized
cutting tools...

Such as the circular saw...
Were not commonly used

in construction until
the late 18th century,

could this hand-cut wooden beam
be potential evidence

of the original Money Pit shaft?

If so, what else might be
waiting to be found

in the so-called
Dunfield spoils?

You mind if I poke around
down there a little bit?

Just go around to the other end
and walk down that slope, right.

JACK:
Okay.

I'll come down there and detect.

- 'Cause this is spoils just going all the way up.
- BILLY: Yep.

Right. Now, if we do find
anything here...

Yeah, a nail or anything would
be good to find here, Gary.

(detector beeping)

- You're getting a hit already?
- Yeah, it's in this.

Is it that? Yep, it is.

- JACK: Oh, wow.
- GARY: It's a cribbing spike.

- Cribbing spike's a... Yeah.
- JACK: And that one's probably really old.

I mean, anywhere where
we've been at a good depth,

we find these older
cribbing spikes.

And, of course,
we can have it tested...

Mm-hmm.

To see if it's, you know,
pre-1830s, 1840s.

But it's got some heft to it
as well.

That's a good point.

GARY: A cribbing
spike is an iron fastener

that was used to connect
two pieces of wood together.

Normally associated
with tunnels or shafts.

This cribbing spike
could actually be

part of the original
construction of the Money Pit.

All right, mate, I'll put this
in my pouch and keep going.

- All right, mate, let's see what else is down here.
- JACK: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Before another
productive day comes to an end

- on Oak Island...
- (insects chirping)

MARTY: Dr. Brosseau,
welcome to the w*r room.

My pleasure.
Happy to be here.

Brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,

their partner, Craig Tester,

and members of the team
meet in the w*r room

with chemist
Dr. Christa Brosseau,

who has traveled
down to the island

from St. Mary's University
in Halifax.

She has come to present
her scientific analysis

on the mysterious metal artifact
discovered one day ago

at a depth of 75 feet
in borehole CD4.5.

It is rare for metal to come up
in these cores.

NARRATOR:
It is the team's hope

that she can not only verify

their initial findings

that the object contains
a significant amount of gold

but also identify
its country of origin.

MARTY:
So, today you have some results.

Yeah, I found it interesting.

I think you will find it
interesting as well.

This is from CD4.5.
It was found at 75 feet.

It's this funky,
little piece of metal.

It's rare, and exceedingly rare,

that we find any sort of metal
object in any of the cores.

If you find it interesting,
certainly we will.

So, yes, this is the breakdown
of the metal itself.

So, it's an iron object.

It does contain manganese
but just in one spot

and in very high concentration,

so, typically for me,
that's an indication

that the manganese is original
to the ore body.

But the really interesting part
of this particular object is

that there are several
gold flakes on it.

- Wow.
- (chuckles)

CHRISTA: So, there's
about three or four large ones,

and then there's
a few smaller ones.

And so, they're very obvious
under the electron microscope.

Um, so, of course,
right away that was

really interesting to me.

- That's why it was, uh...
- Yeah, I would say so.

- But, um...
- (laughter)

And so, the composition
of the gold flakes on this piece

is very, very similar
to the composition

of the gold flake
that you found on the object

that had come out of D2.

NARRATOR:
The metal from borehole CD4.5,

discovered 75 feet deep

within a possible tunnel
in the Money Pit area,

a near match to
the gold composition

of that found in borehole D2,
some 15 feet deeper?

If so, could Rick, Marty and
the team have found evidence

that the actual design
of the Money Pit

is even more complex
than anyone ever knew?

For there to be
a significant treasure

where we've been drilling
all these boreholes

seems far-fetched at this point.

But if it's
in an offset chamber,

which is what this is
kind of suggesting,

then it makes sense.

I-It makes sense
why it still might be there.

It makes sense why
our predecessors didn't find it.

It's exciting.

Do you know
how they're adhered to it?

- Are they stuck to it, or are they wedged?
- Yeah.

They're stuck
into the-the metal itself.

This, at some point, has been
transferred onto the surface.

The thing that I found
even more interesting,

because of course
I can look at composition,

that gold and this gold
have essentially

almost identical compositions.

And so, historically,
the only thing that I could find

that was, uh, from antiquity,

high copper content
in gold artifacts,

uh, is coming out of,
actually, South America.

Oh.

Wow.

NARRATOR:
In the Oak Island w*r room,

Dr. Christa Brosseau has just
presented a scientific report

that the metal objects unearthed

from boreholes CD4.5 and D2
in the Money Pit area

not only contain
the same amount of gold

but may also be
of South American origin.

CHRISTA:
And so, the composition here

would be consistent
with a, like a 14 karat gold.

It could be a rose gold.

The high copper content is used
to make gold jewelry stronger.

Does that mean that gold is
definitively worked by man?

(stammers) It couldn't
be naturally occurring?

I would not think
it's naturally occurring.

MARTY: It's exciting that it
showed up on two different pieces.

I looked and reached out
to these treasure hunters

that are, um,
looking for the Spanish gold.

Uh, when the Spanish
first arrived,

they first started plundering
the artifacts

that the Indigenous people had,

and they often had var...

Quite varying amounts of copper
in them.

So, they melted it all down
and created

what they called tumbaga bars.

If they were mainly gold,
they called them gold bars.

- So that was actually really exciting.
- Yeah.

There is history
of the Spanish Conquistadors

- like, yeah... (stammers) making these tumbaga bars.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: Is it possible
that the metal object found

in borehole CD4.5,

as well as the one found
in borehole D2,

both contain tumbaga...

The ancient gold,
copper and silver mixture,

used by Spanish Conquistadors

to create valuable artifacts
as much as 500 years ago?

MARTY:
It turns out that

South American
Indigenous peoples

used a lot of copper
in their gold and silver.

When you melted it all together,

you'd get some sort of
composition

very like what we just found
in the Money Pit.

I find that incredibly
exciting and relevant.

NARRATOR: Could this mean
that the Spanish were in fact

behind the Oak Island mystery?

But if so, what would explain
the recent evidence

that the team has found
of possible Portuguese activity?

Evidence that includes
the believed stone wharf

in the swamp...

and the two g*n stones...

One of which was recovered
in the Money Pit?

Could the fact that Portugal
competed with Spain

for control of South America

between the 15th
and 18th centuries

mean that the treasure is
of Spanish origin,

but was perhaps stolen
by Portuguese rivals

and hidden on Oak Island?

RICK:
I find it instructive.

Is it a-a cause for great hope
and-and excitement

and anticipation about what we
are about to proceed to do,

i.e. the caisson install?
Absolutely.

I mean, there couldn't be
anything else better,

short of a coin or-or something
indicative of possible treasure.

- Yeah.
- MARTY: I would say that for sure.

You know, it's-it's the thing
that keeps you going.

Okay, well, we all have
several things to do.

Thank you, Dr. Brosseau,
and, uh,

- we're gonna get back at it.
- Sounds good.

NARRATOR: For brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina

and their Oak Island team,

a week that began
with a frustrating setback,

now ends
with incredible evidence

that they are closer than ever

to solving
the 226-year-old mystery.

But as they continue
drilling and digging

in the Money Pit, just what
will they ultimately find?

A treasure vault full of
Spanish gold and silver?

Or will they find
that the complex workings

of the Money Pit
contain numerous chambers,

with not only millions
or billions in treasure

but also priceless artifacts
as well?

Whatever the case
may actually be,

the other burning question
that remains

is just how much longer can
the island keep its secrets?

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

Let's have a look.
Whoa, that looks like a beam.

- SCOTT: That's pit saw.
- TERRY: You got to like that.

The map Zena Halpern had found
says "le trou sous la trappe,"

- which means, "the hole under the hatch."
- We will look there.

COLIN: We conducted
a magnetometer survey.

This is a decent-size anomaly.

That's near where the hatch
from Zena's map could be.

Okay, Billy.
Let's find something.

JACK:
Whoa! Whoa! Wow!