About This Sample
A piece of wood from the remains of the 1861 Shaft 6 tunnel, recovered when the team dug the RP1 caisson in 2024. In testing of wood from the shafts and tunnels of the Money Pit area by Dr. Ian Spooner, it returned the highest gold levels of any sample. Craig Tester reported the result when the team planned Season 14; no figure was given on air.
The testing rests on a method Dr. Spooner introduced in the Season 13 finale at the suggestion of Dr. Fred Michel: buried wood soaks up metals from groundwater and holds them, so a high reading points to precious metal close to where the wood lay. RP1 was dug to look for treasure that may have been carried into the tunnel when the Money Pit collapsed in 1861, and Peter Fornetti suggested the wood could be material from the original Money Pit. On the strength of the result, the first boreholes of Season 14 were drilled around RP1, beginning with L.25-11.
Historical Context
Craig Tester; Dr. Ian Spooner; The Curse of Oak Island Season 14 Episode 1
Where It Was Found
Found at RP1 caisson, Money Pit area, from the remains of the 1861 Shaft 6 tunnel. Location: the original 1795 excavation shaft on Oak Island, Nova Scotia.
