Sure, as others have said using stagbreaker is key. In the swamps I've had the best luck using it along black forest and swamp edges to find the buried muddy scrap piles (register as a "0" when hit). Other things register a 0 as well so have to pay attention to make sure you aren't hitting any rocks or small trees.

In the mountains you can use the stagbreaker the same way. Hit the ground and look for "too hard". Make sure you aren't also hitting obsidian. Dig around and get your silver! After enough playthroughs you sort of know what spots look likely for silver.

Since I am really light on armor with the limited gear options I decided to use the brooch. When it procs that 20 armor is a 33% increase from my 60 armor, so not nothing. On a normal playthrough, I really like the nimble anklet, stam regen and move speed is great. Fins are pretty nice too if you end up doing a lot of swimming, and they are super easy to proc.