The Curse of Oak Island- Shock: Exciting Money Pit Excavations.
The 228-year-old treasure hunt on Oak Island has reached a historic turning point.
In an extraordinary breakthrough deep underground, brothers Rick and Marty Lagina finally descended together into the reconstructed Garden Shaft—and what metal detection expert Gary Drayton discovered beneath the muck in the final hours of the search season has left the entire team stunned.
Decades in the Making: The Descent into History
For over six decades, Rick Lagina dreamed of uncovering the truth behind Oak Island after reading a simple magazine article as an eager young boy.
Partnering with mining specialists DUMAS Contracting Limited, the fellowship rebuilt the legendary Garden Shaft down to nearly 90 feet, transforming their approach from surface drilling to direct underground exploration.
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Centuries-Old Preservations: Wood retrieved from the deep shaft dated back to 1735, while laboratory tests confirmed massive trace evidence of dissolved gold and silver in the water table.
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Brothers Underground: Clad in protective gear, Rick and Marty stepped onto the historic timber structure deep in the Money Pit—surrounded by subterranean architecture that Gary Drayton described as feeling “like a medieval dungeon from the days of the Knights Templar.”
Breakthrough in the Muck: The High-Stakes Discovery
With the operational search season down to its final hours and drilling gear being packed up, the team made a high-stakes call to lower metal detection expert Gary Drayton down the shaft with his waterproof Minelab detector.
| Investigation Phase | Operational Focus | Key Breakthrough / Discovery |
| Probe Drilling | Borehole drilling down to 93 feet searching for lateral feeder tunnels. | High-resistance contact at depth; 99.9% certainty of striking structural tunnel wood. |
| Garden Shaft Base | Pushing detector coils through standing water and muck at the base. | Distinct Non-Ferrous Audio Hit: Strong indicators of high-value non-iron metals (gold, silver, or copper). |
| Season Deadline | Operating under strict regulatory permits and winter freeze conditions. | Required to halt excavation just feet above what could be the fabled treasure chamber. |
Bittersweet Climax: A Ticking Clock Halts the Hunt
The high-pitched chirp of Gary’s detector confirmed a screaming non-ferrous signal mere feet below the wooden floorboards, sending adrenaline through the roof.
Yet the triumph ended on a knife’s edge: with permits capped at the current depth and unstable ground conditions looming, the team was forced to suspend further digging until next spring.
Gathering for an emotional final War Room debrief, Rick Lagina delivered a moving tribute to the fellowship’s tireless efforts: “Every journey is a shared experience… We were part of something much bigger than ourselves. We’re not done yet.”
With non-ferrous hits locked in and tunnel paths projected toward the mysterious “Baby Blob,” the countdown to the next excavation season begins. The curse of Oak Island has never looked closer to shattering.
