Hypothetical question- treasure removal. Need ideas!

[perdidogringo]

Hi all,

I have a hypothetical question to ask the veteran treasure hunters. Say you encounter a place in a jungle environment where you know for a fact that numerous extremely valuable Spanish cobs were found recently. You have reason to believe that there are more. This place, in the middle of the jungle (outside the USA) next to a small river, is now a very large hole (maybe 20 feet by 15 feet) and filled with water after the original excavators finished collecting all the treasure they could. They gave up after it filled with water, became a bog, and became too difficult. The "bed" of the hole is thick mud and when you stand in it, you immediately sink up to your knees in the mud. With a probe, it was determined that the mud itself under the water goes at least 8 feet deep. The water was drained once with a pump but they were unable to find any further cobs because the mud is too deep (the cobs have sank deep, assuming there are any more). I know this situation sounds a little "Oak Island"-like but it is a different situation.

So... any ideas on how to get through the mud to get to the remaining cobs? Heavy machinery is not an option since we wouldn't want the attention plus it's just not practical to get into the jungle. It would have to be cost-effective, also. Thanks in advance for your feedback and/or ideas.

 

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[GA_Boy]

Hypothetically, I would forget about it.
Realistically, if I wanted to pursue it, I would get some friends and very quietly BUCKET the mud out, spread it on the ground and one of you check it with a coin detector. Excavate/ bucket a foot or two below the mud and check that for coins.
Good Luck,
Marvin

 

[jeff of pa]

Hypothetically, I'd hire Knights Templar's to go in and get it for me.
they seem to be able to do the impossible without being seen or heard.

realistically the heavy equipment needed to pull off such a task would be shut down,
faster then you could ask, Where do I get the permits to mess with a wet Land ?

 

[kcm]

Let's just say, hypothetically, that one were to build/make a retaining wall out of smooth plastic/fiberglass/metal - something that could be pulled out and repositioned. Once positioned, one could (hypothetically) remove the mud inside the retaining wall without collapse - depending on just how far down one is trying to go into the mud.....hypothetically!

No, hold it...never mind! I just remembered, this question was for "veteran" treasure hunters. Well, obviously this wouldn't work for one's hypothetical needs...hypothetically speaking, of course!

 

[Jason in Enid]

hypothetically, I would get ahold of, or build a floating, suction gold dredge. I would hypothetically remove all the riffles and instead use a large, screened basket. It would hypothetically be placed outside the pit so the river would keep washing away the mud as it was pumped through.

 

[stefen]

I had an acquaintance who was examined by eight (that's right...8) doctors, seven (7) of which told him that he had colon cancer, and required immediate treatment with a high percentage of survival.

The 8th Specialist said differently, recommended a diet modification, and shortly thereafter, he died (the patient, that's who).
There is a parallel (Hypothetically, that is), to this muddy, limited access, jungle treasure hunt.

 

[perdidogringo]

Sigh... I guess it makes sense why the original hunters decided it wasn't worth the time and effort to search more. Thanks for all the responses so far, though! Might try the retaining wall idea. The suction gold dredge (although a great idea) would have to be imported to this country so it wouldn't be practical.

 

[kcm]

Just for the record, the 'Like" just above this is for hypothetical purposes only.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Sigh... I guess it makes sense why the original hunters decided it wasn't worth the time and effort to search more. Thanks for all the responses so far, though! Might try the retaining wall idea. The suction gold dredge (although a great idea) would have to be imported to this country so it wouldn't be practical.

If you understand the operating principle, you can build it.

 

[kcm]

If you understand the operating principle, you can build it.

...hypothetically, of course!

 

[Limitool]

Hypothetically, I would forget about it.
Realistically, if I wanted to pursue it, I would get some friends and very quietly BUCKET the mud out, spread it on the ground and one of you check it with a coin detector. Excavate/ bucket a foot or two below the mud and check that for coins.
Good Luck,
Marvin

What you just stated was exactly what my first thought went to also buddy (you horseshoe stealer ) Maybe use a sump pump (gas / electric) and bring up 5 gallon buckets of mud ASAP and examine. But without knowing how steep the walls are you had better be careful if your close to them. But bringing up all the mud you can ASAP safely would be a good thing....

 

[smokeythecat]

A sewage truck will suck it out. It's big and not quiet.

 

[kcm]

Suppose there were a retaining wall, but didn't know the extent of the mud depth - add a chain link floor to the retaining wall. It would keep anyone from falling through, yet would offer little resistance in pulling it up and out.....hypothetically!

Or, lower the retaining wall and then lower someone by rope who is wearing a harness.

 

[lastleg]

I would go with a ratchet dredge not the Tony type dwedge. The ratcheting noise would be interpreted
as gorillas mating discouraging uninvited guests.

 

[austin]

You've got great ideas here. Your problem seems to be legality. Before I did anything, I'd investigate Colombian prisons and decide if 10 years or so could be endured. TV? Decent food? Conjugal visits? Bed comfort? Big Bubba as a roommate? Don't do the crime if you can't do the time...Just saying.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... where you know for a fact that numerous extremely valuable Spanish cobs were found recently. .....

What source of information tells you "for a fact" that these "valuable Spanish cobs were found" ?

If it's just "he said she said", telephone game stuff, then I don't buy it. Down in Columbia, Mexico, South America, treasure lore is a dime a dozen. So too did I hear fabulous stories of treasures found in caves, caches of coins found in walls of old ruins, and so forth . Each and every story is iron-clad by the person telling you. But pry deeper, and you'll never see the coins themselves . Or you try to talk to the person who told your friend that, and ... well ... it turns out he had only heard it from someone else . So you track down THAT person. And ... you guessed it: They too didn't actually see the coins. And soon you begin to see the telephone game at work. But in their mind's eyes, it's always first-hand iron-clad true.

Even the presence of a hole that someone dug in their quest for treasure, doesn't mean they found anything. They, like yourself, might have been chasing the same fanciful ghost story.

 

[Jason in Enid]

What source of information tells you "for a fact" that these "valuable Spanish cobs were found" ?

If it's just "he said she said", telephone game stuff, then I don't buy it. Down in Columbia, Mexico, South America, treasure lore is a dime a dozen. So too did I hear fabulous stories of treasures found in caves, caches of coins found in walls of old ruins, and so forth . Each and every story is iron-clad by the person telling you. But pry deeper, and you'll never see the coins themselves . Or you try to talk to the person who told your friend that, and ... well ... it turns out he had only heard it from someone else . So you track down THAT person. And ... you guessed it: They too didn't actually see the coins. And soon you begin to see the telephone game at work. But in their mind's eyes, it's always first-hand iron-clad true.

Even the presence of a hole that someone dug in their quest for treasure, doesn't mean they found anything. They, like yourself, might have been chasing the same fanciful ghost story.

Take a deep breath Tom! Remember, this is all HYPOTHETICAL!

 

[Dr. Syn]

Well since it's hypothetical, maybe you are looking at the problem the wrong way. From what I'm getting this was dry land at one time, and then the Yahoos, err Treasure Hunters digging it up caused it to flood. So fix the flooding problem and let it dry up. A darn Beaver can change the course of of stream with a bunch of sticks. So instead of combating a never ending flooding of the spot, you move the water away from the spot. It will then dry up, and you can dig to your heart's content.

 

[kcm]

You mean move the RAIN FOREST?!?!?

 

[Alex Burke]

You know there is 30-70! gram per ton gold deposits everywhere around you right The last thing I would be looking for is a Cob, if you could get a small dredge running you could make a killing in the right spot. Heck build a ball mill I have way more maps of this area if you want pm me for them but I'd def read this one. https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr7369