Oak Island latest news: Treasure to be found with new ‘sonic drilling’ technique?

Will treasure be found on Oak Island in 2018? The team behind The Curse of Oak Island could finally be set to make that a “yes” this year — by implementing a new “sonic drilling” technique.

Equipment from Canadian firm Choice Sonic Drilling was recently photographed arriving on the island where treasure-hunting operations for 2018 have already begun, as we revealed last month.

Sonic drilling is a modern technique used to break through difficult materials underground. Could it be used to help the team get past the giant granite boulder that they encountered in the DMT shaft at the end of last season?

The DMT shaft lies where Rick and Marty Lagina and the team believe the so-called Money Pit, which it’s thought could contain something of huge value, is located.

Last season the brothers initially thought the Money Pit was located underneath the shaft they dug known as H-8, but they later moved their efforts to the DMT location, which was named after team member Craig Tester’s late son Drake.

However, in a massive blow to the team’s efforts, they then hit the granite boulder which proved too much for their drill bit and broke off its metal teeth, leaving them strewn among the DMT spoils. The boulder put an end to their efforts in the Money Pit area before winter set in.

But could sonic drilling solve their problems and help them get through the boulder that previously defeated them? The technique works by adding sonic frequencies, also known as “resonant energy”, to the drill head to help penetrate soil, bedrock and other obstacles.

Choice Sonic Drilling are also a highly experienced firm with more than 25 years of experience across the globe, including in countries like Brazil and Japan, so the equipment looks like it’s in the right hands.

Pictures of it arriving on the island were posted by local resident Karen Publicover on her Oak Island From The Other Side of The Causeway Facebook page, below.

It comes as large-scale operations for 2018 begin at Smith’s Cove, where huge metal pylons have been pounded into the ocean creating what are thought to be the foundations of a cofferdam to keep the sea at bay while the team carry out excavation work there.

Smith’s Cove became a central focus last season after metal-detecting expert Gary Drayton’s discovery of a medieval lead cross. The Curse of Oak Island executive producer Kevin Burns recently told Monsters and Critics how more testing has been done on the cross during the off-season, and that all the evidence so far points to it being at least 600 years old, if not older.

He said: “I think the cross that we found, which was extraordinary and we’re still doing testing on it — we can’t seem to find any evidence of a cross of that shape or construction that is any more recent than the 1300s or earlier.

“In other words, some have dated it to as old as 900 AD, some have said 1300 AD, and if it is in that neighborhood, it could very well have been left behind by a Templar and that might be some kind of evidence that they did come to North America years before Columbus. If they did, what did they bring and why?”

Photos of the new operations at Smith’s Cove were also posted by Karen on her Facebook page, showing a crane from heavy lifting and pile-driving firm Irving Equipment on the beach with pylons inserted into the sea surrounding it. Metal sheet piling was also seen arriving on the island, which it’s thought could be used to create the walls of the cofferdam.

Previous pictures showed the crane from Irving Equipment set up in the Money Pit area:

Other major discoveries last season included a 500-year-old rhodolite garnet gemstone, as well as human bones which were discovered underground in the Money Pit area.

A total of 600 artifacts were found during the course of the team’s treasure-hunting operations last year. Season 6 of The Curse of Oak Island is expected to air in the fall.