When it comes to geology, Marathon County is a gold mine.

In the eighties, an exploration company did research and drilling, but abandoned the project. But now after months of planning and permits, Aquila Resources, an exploration company from Michigan, is drilling in the town of Easton, hoping to uncover long buried, and potentially lucrative gold deposits.

Geologists say they're nowhere near the mining phase yet. Right now they're just trying to get an idea of what's been hiding underground all these years. And so far, they're on the right track.

"We've had some really promising results & you know enough to warrant further exploration," says project geologist Nicholas Schlagenhaft.

And although Marathon County could be years, if not a decade away from becoming a mining community again, the possibility is there, which could mean new jobs.

"Jobs would come from the community jobs would be created it's tough to say how many or when that would happen but as long as we're here there's potential for that in the future," he says.

Aquila has obtained permits and licenses from the DNR, and if they do decide to mine in Easton, they'll need to go through another permit process.