I reckon silver will be less of a chore if they introduce some higher tier light armour down the line, which I reckon seems likely.

Even still, I much preferred it to bronze as the process of finding silver and moving it made me feel like I was actually playing.
Mining is mining of course, but at least you don't need 3 ores and 3 coals to a single ingot. And you don't need to be as methodical since the deposits and their individual pieces aren't nearly as massive.