Originally posted by Complaintdesk:

I don't tap the vein, so it will still ping if my son is looking for silver in the same area.

It might be of interest to you that you can safely use the bone pickaxe (and possibly also the bronze pickaxe, but I can't remember and haven't tested it recently) to clear around a silver vein, and even if you strike the vein, it won't stop the Wishbone from pinging that vein. If it doesn't inflict damage on the vein, it won't make the vein act as though it's been discovered. Convenient if you want to dig down to or fully expose a silver vein without risking accidentally catching the edge of it with your pickaxe and stopping it from pinging.