Berlett and Fiege formed a corporation to protect what they had found, as well as making a formal application to enter White Sands for a search and retrieval of the gold. However, White Sands issued an edict expressly forbidding them to return to the base. In the summer of 1961, upon the advice of the Director of the Mint, Major General John Shinkle of White Sands allowed Captain Fiege, Captain Orby Swanner, Major Kelly and Colonel Gorman to work the claim. On August 5, Fiege and his party returned to Victorio Peak, accompanied by the commander of the Missile Range, a secret service agent, and fourteen military police. Try as he would, Captain Fiege was unable to penetrate the opening he had used just three years earlier. General Shinkle finally had enough and ordered everyone out. Later, Fiege would take a lie detector test, which would allow Fiege back on the missile range. This time, the military began a full-scale mining operation at the Peak.

Fueled by suspicions that the military was working her claim, Babe Noss hired four men to surreptitiously enter the range.  Though caught trespassing and escorted from the area, the men reported that they had observed several men in Army fatigues upon the peak. An affidavit dated October 28, 1961, was signed to this effect, also claiming to have seen a military jeep and a weapons carrier on the mountain. Immediately reporting the activity to Babe Noss, Babe contacted Oscar Jordan with the New Mexico State Land Office, who in turn, contacted the Judge Advocate’s Office at White Sands. In December 1961, General Shinkle shut down the operation and excluded anyone from entering the base who was not directly engaged in the missile research activities.

In 1963, the Gaddis Mining Company of Denver, Colorado, under a contract with the Denver Mint and the Museum of New Mexico, obtained permission to work the site. For three months beginning on June 20, 1963, the group used a variety of techniques to search the area; however, they failed to turn up anything.

In 1972, F. Lee Bailey, became involved in the dispute, representing some fifty clients including Babe Noss, the Fiege group, Violet Noss Yancy, Expeditions Unlimited (a Florida based treasure hunting group), and many others. Reaching a compromise the military based allowed Expeditions Unlimited, representing all of the claimants to excavate the peak in 1977. However, the Army placed a two-week time limit on the group and they had hardly started before they were forced to leave, without finding anything. The Army then shut down all operations stating that no additional searches would be allowed.