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deep treasure cache.... what could this grayish-white subtance be?

Tell me a good reason why I have such little water in my 15 ft hole not far from the mississippi river?????.
And I might let it go. Why was there 12 fence posts at the top of the dig 18 inches down??? Why am I still digging topsoil out of the bottom of that hole?????
Why does our instruments still say theres something down there????? Why is the lime thin on the edges and getting thicker as i move laterally??? Why was there ever talk of treasure
on that property???? Why does that talk go back so far and maybe even farther than I know????? Here's one, when I probe side ways (diagonal) on to the thicker parts,
I get air bubbles, WHY?????? give me reasonable answers and I might let it go.
 

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Hey Cache Cow, I dont think that you can get much more from any of us without some more detail by you. Pics mean a lot. I have been coy in this thread, but seriously, you need to give us more to work on.
 

Cache-Cow, do not go any further. Take a sample of that grey white soil to Halliburton or one of the oilfield cement companies near you and have them test it. It may be old cement that never set up. You may be on top of an old oil or gas well that was abandoned and covered up. The detector reading could be coming from the conductor or casing that is still below you. The reason you have not hit anything with a probe is because you are going beside or inside the casing. You are in South Louisiana not far from the Mississippi River. Lots of old abandoned well in that area. Be careful. You may get into something you don't want any part of.
 

You can also get a small bottle of Phenolphthalein and squirt a small amount on the grey white soil. If it turns purple it is cement. Just because the soil is not hard like cement should be does not mean that it is not cement. When plugging a well, for the top plug normally the roughnecks on the rig or a lease crew will cut 20 to 30 sacks of cement and dump it on top of the conductor and casing. They usually do not take the time to mix it properly. Then the hole is filled in with soil. The cement really never sets up like it should. If there is a drilling rig close by, take a soil sample to them. There should be a mud engineer on location and he can test it in a few minutes. Hope all this helps.
 

thanks, San Antone
But where do i get the Phenolphthalein?
 

I searched buy Phenolphthalein on the internet and it is sold at Grainger and Amazon. What is the closest medium to large town near you? Are there any drilling rigs operating in your area?
 

not within 30 or 40 miles
 

I think i've larned to post pics thanks to mike, gonna try
 

San Antone said:
You can also get a small bottle of Phenolphthalein and squirt a small amount on the grey white soil. If it turns purple it is cement. Just because the soil is not hard like cement should be does not mean that it is not cement. When plugging a well, for the top plug normally the roughnecks on the rig or a lease crew will cut 20 to 30 sacks of cement and dump it on top of the conductor and casing. They usually do not take the time to mix it properly. Then the hole is filled in with soil. The cement really never sets up like it should. If there is a drilling rig close by, take a soil sample to them. There should be a mud engineer on location and he can test it in a few minutes. Hope all this helps.
Click to expand...
Cement always sets up. It's a chemical reaction. It even sets up under water. The only time it fails to set up is under extreme (and I mean EXTEME) cold. The reason extreme cold stops it is it stops the chemical reaction. It never gets cold enough down south. Whatever it is, it's not cement.
Jim
 

Jim, you are correct all cement will set up, but that is if it is mixed correctly. Many rigs in Louisiana and Texas, onshore and offshore have burned down because of bad cement jobs. Quite a few lives have been lost as a result of this. Back in the 1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's most all cement that was used for the top plugs on abandoned wells was a Light cement mixed with 20% gel it was a cheap cost cement. Not a ready mix type cement. Normally it came out in 100 lb/sx. The sacks were cut and dumped into the well. The only water contact was whatever water was in the well bore. The cement was continually dumped until 10 to 15' above the well was covered in dry cheap cement. Dirt was then put on top of the the dry cement and the well was officially abandoned. I have been on many wells that were supposed to have good set up cement behind the production casing and thru Bond Logs and perforating we were able to find out that the cement never set up. And this was cement pre mixed in a blender by notable cement companies!! My job is to go out and supervise the drilling and completion of oil and gas wells onshore and offshore. Every time we cement casing on a well, I am given 2 dry and 2 wet samples of the cement as they are pumping it down hole. If I had a nickel for every cement sample that set up as sludge, clay or a dirt clod, I would have several hundred nickels. Most samples are supposed to set up after 24 hours. Sorry Cache, did not mean to hijack your thread but I had to respond. Thanks
 

San Antone, you're giving some pretty good advice, And I agree that Cache Cow should test it, but why would there be a cap that far down into a pit? I mean, he is already pretty far down, and his probe still won't contact anything solid metal. would they have dug a 20-25 foot pit to drill a well?
 

TOO DEEP 15 FEET TOO DEEP
 

Higgs, in south Louisiana, the rig is set up over the area where the well is to be drilled. Before the well is drilled they set a string of drive pipe. It is usually 24" OD. They pick it up in 40 foot joints with a hydraulic hammer above it. It is then run thru the floor down to the to the ground and hammered down into the soil. They will continue to pick up joints of drive pipe and weld them together and drive them into the ground until it takes between 20 to 25 hits in order to drive it one foot. In some areas you may be able to drive to pipe as much as 300 feet deep. This drive pipe is very heavy about 125 lb/ft and about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick. The well is then drilled and several other casings are run at different depths and cemented in the hole. If the well is abandoned sometimes the operator (oil company) will try to recover the casing that has been cemented to use on another well. The casings are then cut off above the cement tops and laid down. The drive pipe stays in the hole. The rig sets several plugs as per the Louisiana oil and gas commission. The plug they do not set is the top or last plug. The rig is then moved off. A lease crew along with a track hoe come in and they usually dig down 15' below ground level and cut off the drive pipe. The drive pipe and the 10' or so are filled with cement. Dirt is then used to finish covering up the hole. Sometimes the operator decides not to recover the casing and plugs are set in the last casing that was set and the rig moves off. The lease crew and track hoe comes in and digs down cuts off all the casings and the drive pipe level with each other below the surface. Then the cement is placed in the last string of casing and the hole is covered the same way. There has been instances where the drive pipe will start to settle and slowly drop deeper in the ground, especially after time. If the other casings were cut out and laid down then their tops would not be up at that 15' level. If the other casings were still in place then only the drive pipe would settle and the casing would be viewable.
Cache, if you continue to dig make sure that whoever goes into that hole is tied off. Just in case someone is in the hole and standing over what could possibly be 24" OD drive pipe there may not be much of a cement cap inside that drive pipe and it would be a bad day if someone was to fall in. I hope I am wrong and you find some burried treasure. I also have a Gemini 3 and I have located 3" pipes at 10' deep. Good luck.
 

Very interesting post, San Antone.
 

San Antone said:
Jim, you are correct all cement will set up, but that is if it is mixed correctly. Many rigs in Louisiana and Texas, onshore and offshore have burned down because of bad cement jobs. Quite a few lives have been lost as a result of this. Back in the 1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's most all cement that was used for the top plugs on abandoned wells was a Light cement mixed with 20% gel it was a cheap cost cement. Not a ready mix type cement. Normally it came out in 100 lb/sx. The sacks were cut and dumped into the well. The only water contact was whatever water was in the well bore. The cement was continually dumped until 10 to 15' above the well was covered in dry cheap cement. Dirt was then put on top of the the dry cement and the well was officially abandoned. I have been on many wells that were supposed to have good set up cement behind the production casing and thru Bond Logs and perforating we were able to find out that the cement never set up. And this was cement pre mixed in a blender by notable cement companies!! My job is to go out and supervise the drilling and completion of oil and gas wells onshore and offshore. Every time we cement casing on a well, I am given 2 dry and 2 wet samples of the cement as they are pumping it down hole. If I had a nickel for every cement sample that set up as sludge, clay or a dirt clod, I would have several hundred nickels. Most samples are supposed to set up after 24 hours. Sorry Cache, did not mean to hijack your thread but I had to respond. Thanks
Click to expand...
What you're saying is the cement was mixed with sodium bentonite (gel). That would definitely weaken the resulting mix, but the cement portion would still hydrate, so if it's powder, it's probably unhydrated bentonite, which is mostly inert as far as health concerns. Still could be a well, but if so, there should be a casing in there somewhere. Usually, the cement-bentonite mix is around 5% bentonite, 95% cement. The reason for the bentonite is the swelling it causes counteracts the shrinkage of the cement as it dries, so the casing is sealed.
Jim
 

San Antone said:
Higgs, in south Louisiana, the rig is set up over the area where the well is to be drilled. Before the well is drilled they set a string of drive pipe. It is usually 24" OD. They pick it up in 40 foot joints with a hydraulic hammer above it. It is then run thru the floor down to the to the ground and hammered down into the soil. They will continue to pick up joints of drive pipe and weld them together and drive them into the ground until it takes between 20 to 25 hits in order to drive it one foot. In some areas you may be able to drive to pipe as much as 300 feet deep. This drive pipe is very heavy about 125 lb/ft and about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick. The well is then drilled and several other casings are run at different depths and cemented in the hole. If the well is abandoned sometimes the operator (oil company) will try to recover the casing that has been cemented to use on another well. The casings are then cut off above the cement tops and laid down. The drive pipe stays in the hole. The rig sets several plugs as per the Louisiana oil and gas commission. The plug they do not set is the top or last plug. The rig is then moved off. A lease crew along with a track hoe come in and they usually dig down 15' below ground level and cut off the drive pipe. The drive pipe and the 10' or so are filled with cement. Dirt is then used to finish covering up the hole. Sometimes the operator decides not to recover the casing and plugs are set in the last casing that was set and the rig moves off. The lease crew and track hoe comes in and digs down cuts off all the casings and the drive pipe level with each other below the surface. Then the cement is placed in the last string of casing and the hole is covered the same way. There has been instances where the drive pipe will start to settle and slowly drop deeper in the ground, especially after time. If the other casings were cut out and laid down then their tops would not be up at that 15' level. If the other casings were still in place then only the drive pipe would settle and the casing would be viewable.
Cache, if you continue to dig make sure that whoever goes into that hole is tied off. Just in case someone is in the hole and standing over what could possibly be 24" OD drive pipe there may not be much of a cement cap inside that drive pipe and it would be a bad day if someone was to fall in. I hope I am wrong and you find some burried treasure. I also have a Gemini 3 and I have located 3" pipes at 10' deep. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Good post....sounds more and more like he's chasing the driven casing material.....no fun in that, and LOTS of work....LOL
Jim
 

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