The Oak Island team has uncovered remarkable artifacts all across the island.
With the addition of Lot 5 and the start of probe-drilling operations in the Garden Shaft,
the Lagina brothers are more determined than ever.
After six decades of dreaming about the legendary hidden treasure,
they’re ready to throw everything they have at solving the mystery.

Each new piece of evidence brings them one step closer to fitting the puzzle together.
So what exciting discoveries have been made across the island — including Lot 5?
And how are the Laginas using cutting-edge technology and modern science
to decode Oak Island’s secrets?
Let’s take a look.

---

Alex and Rick Lagina step into a tent beside the Garden Shaft,
monitoring the ongoing probe drilling just feet away.
Inside, Brandon Vanderho oversees the effort,
while the drilling crew works in the cramped, dimly lit shaft —
flashlights slicing through the darkness as they prepare the equipment.

Uncle and nephew watch with anticipation,
hoping this marks the beginning of a critical new chapter.
The probe drilling project, led by Dumas Contracting Limited,
is designed to search for anything of value just outside the Garden Shaft structure.
The old 80-foot shaft is being reinforced,
and tests have already revealed high trace amounts of gold in the surrounding water.
They may even be only a few feet from a potential treasure chamber
connected to the original Money Pit.

Rick hopes this drilling uncovers something meaningful.
Marty believes this is the moment the real treasure hunt begins.

---

Alex asks how deep the crew is currently drilling.
When he hears “50 feet,” he immediately remembers a large void they once hit at that depth.
A flashback shows the earlier discovery —
a 10-foot-high void located several feet southwest of the Garden Shaft.

Marty suspects this void may be an offset chamber,
possibly the fabled Money Pit treasure vault rumored to hold Captain Kidd’s treasure.

With reconstruction reaching 55 feet,
Brandon explains they will begin manually drilling multiple bore holes
that extend several feet beyond the shaft’s wooden lining —
hoping to intersect the void and determine what lies within.

---

As the Dumas team collects soil samples,
Rick suddenly has an idea.
He asks the crew to save wood shavings from the shaft’s lining
and label each sample for XRF analysis.
If the water contains gold,
the wood may have absorbed it like a sponge.

Historian Charles Barkhouse joins the group,
sharing their excitement.
Rick quickly departs with the samples,
eager to deliver everything to archaeologist and metallurgist Emma Culligan
at the Interpretive Center.

---

The next morning, the entire Oak Island team gathers under an open-air tent.
Emma arrives with results from the water, soil, and wood tests.
Holding a wood sample from the original Garden Shaft,
she explains that her detailed scan revealed traces of gold —
confirming Rick’s theory.

The gold-bearing sample came from 55 feet.
Emma assures Marty the results are solid.
Terry asks whether the gold attached to the organic material,
and Emma confirms the wood absorbed gold at a rate of 0.11%.
A small number — but scientifically significant.

The team agrees to keep cross-checking water and wood samples
to confirm and replicate the finding.

Their determination strengthens.
Terry jokes that Emma’s ability to detect gold is practically a superpower.
Marty is stunned.
Alex calls it a major breakthrough.

---

Rick reminds everyone that science has always been central to their search.
The Garden Shaft, he believes, offers opportunities
missed by treasure hunters of the past.
The group applauds Emma’s work
and moves forward with renewed momentum.

---

With this new mindset, Rick and Alex — joined by Billy Gerhardt —
head to Lot 11 near the northern edge of the triangular swamp.
They search for the buried well that Tom Nolan once described.
Gary Drayton is with them, metal detector in hand.

Billy digs.
Gary scans each scoop.
Suddenly the detector chirps —
and Gary pulls out a rose-head spike,
hand-forged and pre-1795.

Moments later, another signal.
Gary retrieves a strange old hook,
possibly used for drawing water —
though Carmen Legge will soon say otherwise.

---

A flashback shows a similar hook found earlier on Lot 8,
dated to the 1600s.
Carmen examines this new hook
and believes it belonged to a block-and-tackle system
designed for lifting heavy cargo —
not for drawing water.
Its shape suggests a date between 1650 and 1690.

Could this well have been used to store or hide something valuable?
The evidence suggests intense activity here long before the Money Pit was discovered.

---

Meanwhile on Lot 5,
Jack Begley and Gary Drayton continue metal detecting.
Lot 5 has already produced some of the most historic discoveries in Oak Island history —
a stone structure from the same era as the Garden Shaft,
400-year-old tools,
and even half of a Roman coin dated to 300 BC.

Gary flags each target.
Soon he unearths a lead token with scalloped edges —
a potentially ancient trade token.
Could it be linked to the Roman coin?

---

At the Interpretive Center,
the team examines the artifact.
Emma’s extended XRF scan reveals two layers of naturally occurring lead —
a rare signature.
The mineral matches suggest origins from mines in Iran
and along the coasts of Italy, France, and Spain.
Most likely: Italy.
The purity suggests significant antiquity —
possibly Roman.

Rick wonders if the lead traveled the same historical routes as the Knights Templar.
Marty notes they’ve once again found something that shouldn’t exist on the island.

---

Back at the Garden Shaft,
the probe drilling has reached an incredible depth: 93 feet.
They believe they’ve hit the tunnel leading west toward the treasure zone —
but they have only hours left before Dumas must pack up.

The drill jams.
The team suspects wood.
They pull the rods and bag the debris for analysis.

They didn’t hit the tunnel directly
—but came close.
Very close.

---

Rick and Marty are more determined than ever.
With time running out,
they decide to metal detect the final five feet beneath them.
Gary Drayton is called in.

Gary becomes the first person in history
to metal detect inside the Money Pit.

The detector beeps —
a non-ferrous signal.
Gold?
Silver?
Copper?
Something old.
Something important.

But without permits,
they cannot dig further.
The risk — and the law — stop them cold.

---

The next day, the team gathers in the War Room
for their final meeting of the season.
Rick gives a heartfelt speech.
Marty thanks everyone.
They close the year on the cusp of something extraordinary —
yet unable to pursue it.

---

Have they finally detected a clue to the legendary Oak Island treasure?
Or is this just another vital piece of the puzzle?
Ancient coins.
Hooks.
Spikes.
Buried wells.
Voids underground.
Gold in the water.
And now — a mysterious signal at the bottom of the Garden Shaft.

Will they ever be allowed to break through the floor?
Or will the truth remain sealed beneath Oak Island forever?