treasure hunting costs

T

tonichic3

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I am a freshman in college and I have to do a major research paper (8-10 pages) on professional treasure hunting (with boats and machinery)...the only thing is… I don’t know the first thing about costs and the challenges of this profession. I was wondering if you guys could point me in the right direction by listing any good websites or books that I could refer to in my paper. Your help would be greatly appreciated!!
 

Welcome to TreasureNet. Maybe you'll stick around even after you complete your college paper because this is a great website.

You might want to investigate the story of Mel Fisher and his work to find the Spanish ship Atocha off the coast of Florida. He invested millions of dollars over several decades in his quest for treasure. One of his sons and a daughter-in-law lost their lives in the recovery, so he paid a high price for treasure - in more ways than one. That angle may be good for your paper.

Then there is the story of Oak Island and the treasure that is thought to be buried there, by pirates no less!!!

Or contact any of the shipwreck divers here on TreasureNet by PM for their stories. I'm sure they could tell you a whole lot about the expense associated with underwater treasure hunting.

Hope you'll let us know how your research and writing goes. Good luck!
 

Hi,

You have to specify what kind of treasure hunting do you want to write about, if its water salvaging then mel fisher would do as posted previously. Treasure huntng can be anything from nugget hunting to beachcombing for lost jewelry or even finding a musketball or military button. So cost would be relative to what you are looking for. Also try the cache hunting forum and click yamashita treasure, thats looking for japanese loot from the last war. To get you started, the main tool would be a detector either for land or sea, price can range from as low as 10dls for to thousands of dollars, then you might need a boat, diving gear, digging equiptment, dredging equiptment, manual labor etc...Mel fisher paid the ultimate price, the lost of his son. In my country, many have paid the ultimate price by way of tunnels caving in...that is beyond costing. visit the many sponsors of this forum, they have prices of detectors and other gear.

God bless

Jose
 

I moved your post to Shipwrecks, as these are the Guys to answer
your Questions.

Good Luck !

Jeff
 

tonichic3,

The cost can vary greatly, depending on the size of the boat, the depth of water, the number of divers/crew, the distance from port, the equipment being used, (ROV's, Magnetometer, Side Scan Sonar, Sub-Bottom Profilers, etc).

For a small operation, 2 divers working from a small boat close to port, it could be $100-$300/day.

A larger operation with small crew, several divers, compressors, twin diesels, air lifts, and other excavation equip: $1000 - $1500 per day.

For a company like Odyssey, huge vessel and crew, with big ROV's, high dollar Mags and Side Scan Sonars, working in deep water, living on the boat, it could reach an astonishing $50,000+ per day when excavating a site.

Good Luck,

Robert
 

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