Kentucky Blue,
Hello, I grew up in Kentucky as a kid, & sure miss home.
I cannot give you an answer, I do not remember anyone mining for gold there, and I do not know of much any mining besides for coal, do remember a couple of oil wells an ole friend of mine helped drill, maybe check the history to see if any gold was found in the area.
I know they did discover gold down in Georgia, after general Jackson ran the Cherokee Indians off their homes and farms into Georgia, after the gold discovery in Georgia the removed the Cherokee again, that is when federal troops marched many thousands of people, men, women, and children to their death on the trail of tears to reservations in Oklahoma.
By the way the Cherokee mixed early with the whites, they also helped the US gain its independence and win the revolutionary war, and many of these people are our ancestors.
There was a portion of the Cherokee that wanted to keep the old way’s they did not mix with whites at that time, when Jackson stated the Indian removals they hid in the mountains later they mixed with whites, this is why most of us from the hills of Kentucky have Cherokee in our blood, many of the older generation denied it, as they were teased and taunted and looked down on if the were half blood.
Welcome to the forum, sorry I cannot answer your question and I wandered off topic, hope you find the gold.