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Go to the Image Gallery to check out Photos from our recent expeditions. For more updates visit our Projects Page.
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UPDATE SEPT 12th, 2009 EUROPE AND TURKEY PART 2 We recently returned from our second follow trip to Europe to wrap up the summer of 2009! We surveyed 2 great sites in France! We performed a complete Geometrics 858 Magnetometer study on the beach in France to locate a 1939 Truck with 5000 Kilos of gold. The truck was lost in quick sand on the beach after taking a wrong turn; and is reported to have belonged to the Spanish Dictator Franco at the start of WWII. The other site is associated with François Bérenger Saunière of Rennes-le-Chateau, France! The same Templar Treasure speculated about in the book Holy Blood, Holy Grail; which subsequently was later used by Dan Brown for his best selling Novel "The Da Vinci Code". We also went to Turkey, where we located 6 Major Archaeological Sites for our clients. Discovered amazing Sarcophagus and Ancient Roman Tombs that haven’t been seen since they were buried over 2000 years ago!!! Turkey was truly amazing and beautiful…can't wait to return!!! !!!NEW EUROPEAN TREASURE SITES!!! We recently returned from Europe where we surveyed over 10 sites in Spain, France, and Portugal for our new clients! We had some very positive results from our initial testing and surveys, and will be returning very soon to make a recovery! We will be visiting new countries on our next trip to do some surveying in the western and central parts of Europe. Stay tuned for developments! WOMAN KEY WRECK SITE On January 15th, 2009 Old Charter Salvage, LLC (OCS) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with The Kirby Group, LLC for the purchase of 50% ownership, operation, and exclusive salvage rights to a Colonial Period Sailing Vessel located on Federal Admiralty Arrest # 86-1584 and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Survey/Inventory Permit # FKNMS-2009-048 in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Old Charter Salvage was originally contracted for a Professional Fee and a 10% of the Find by Deep Blue Marine, Inc (DPBE) in Sept/Oct of 2006 to perform a 14 day independent remote sensing study with their Proprietary Locating Technology to prove the existence of precious metals and gems at the Woman Key and Ballast Key Wreck Site. Subsequently, OCS spent over 3 weeks testing and analyzing the site to determine that the site contained approximately 7 to 8 Tons Gold, 12 to 14 Tons of Silver, 200Lbs to 300Lbs of Emeralds, and a trace amount of Diamonds. This site is estimated to contain $300 to $400 Million in Treasure, and could be one of the missing 1622 Treasure Fleet. OCS prepared a full report providing a detailed map and coordinates to Deep Blue Marine, Inc. of the location of said Treasure! OCS also took Deep Blue Marine personnel to the wreck impact site; placed buoys around said wreck site, then confirmed the presence of conductive anomalies with a JW Fisher Pulse 10 within the OCS target areas. OCS then put divers in the water with Aqua Pulse Metal Detectors to determine that the targets were in 15ft of water and impacted 3ft to 4ft into the bottom. The anomalies are covered by sediment and concretions from hundreds of years of primary, secondary, and tertiary disturbances and natural current flow. Deep Blue Marine, Inc. did not investigate the site further in 2006 and the whole of 2007. In April of 2008 Deep Blue Marine, Inc brought in sub-contractor Oceanic Research & Recovery, Inc., a Nevada corporation (ORR) to continue salvage operations in their absence. ORR subsequently had a magnetometer study performed on the OCS target areas at the direction of the site owner Kenneth Rose of The Kirby Group, LLC. The magnetometer study confirmed the presence of magnetic anomalies that have the profile of a colonial period shipwreck in the exact same location that OCS located in 2006. Deep Blue Marine and ORR were released in January 2009 from their contract with the site owners. OCS has a vested interest in The Woman Key and Kirby Sites, and has so under contract since 2006. That is why OCS has fostered a positive line of communication and a good working relationship and with the sites’ owner Kenneth Rose. This relationship is the reason why OCS now has an agreement with The Kirby Group, LLC for 50% ownership of the Federal Admiralty Site #86-1584 indefinitely; in return for OCS properly funding, salvaging, and conserving said site. Mr. Rose’s Group, The Kirby Group, LLC, owns the site 100% through adjudication in Federal Admiralty Court. The Group also won a ruling against the State of Florida in 1989 that gives them the exclusive ownership of said site without interference from the State! Old Charter Salvage, LLC shall assume all salvage operations over said site as soon as all conditions of the “MOU” are met, i.e. funding for purchase and salvage operations has been acquired by OCS, all funds transferred to The Kirby Group, LLC, and all ownership contracts have been finalized between parties. Therefore, Old Charter Salvage, LLC is currently seeking private funding for this venture. This investment will be used to finance, salvage, conserve, and market a Colonial Period Sailing Vessel of Unknown Origin containing $300 Million to $400 Million Dollars treasure within the Federal Admiralty Arrest # 86-1584 and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Survey/Inventory Permit # FKNMS-2009-048 in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. | |
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Treasure Hunting is not for the faint of heart and much more complicated than just digging it up or taking it from the sea. To begin with, time and money must be spent to qualify the existence of the treasure. This is accomplished by first, researching the history that supports the location and second, physically exploring the location using geophysical instrumentation that confirms the presence of precious metals and artifacts. Usually the archival research is done before the first dollar is spent on exploration. The next step is dealing with local government and/or land owner that control the property where the treasure has been deposited. In the case of the Bahamas, The Government has eminent domain over all antiquities,(Buried over 50 years)since passing The Monuments and Museum Protection Act No. 5 of 1998. A formal petition for the removal of the treasure is presented and if accepted, a permit is then issued. But this is only the beginning. Determining the necessary equipment, the support and logistics and assembly of a team of qualified personnel is imperative to assure that artifact recovery is in accordance with all precepts of current archaeological science. This is of the utmost importance as the academic society can accurately point out too many examples where "smash and grab" treasure hunters have destroyed the historical significance and the worth of the recovered artifacts. The value of these artifacts is greatly enhanced by their history. Typically, the intrinsic value may be multiplied many times over by conservation, research, and documentation of the items recovered. For example, a Spanish silver coin with no history attached may be sold on the open market for as little as $300, but if the same coin is documented as coming from a known shipwreck, such as the "Atocha", it can bring up to $3,000! Need I say more? Once the artifacts have been recovered, more time and money must be spent on documentation and research. The historical value attributed to the artifacts is what treasure hunting is all about...if it is to be profitable. Recovery is only the starting point. Additional research is the next and most important step that must be taken before the artifacts can be made available to the public. In order to be profitable, treasure hunting must be a marriage between the sciences of modern technology, archaeology, and historical research. All these components are equally important. Treasure Hunting is about writing history, and that is what makes it so exciting!
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Sincerely, Don Patterson |
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| Copyright (c) 2009, Old Charter Salvage |
