A man I worked with found out that I metal detected for coins. After having a conversation with him one night (I worked second shift), he asked if I was interested in hunting a silver mine. I stated that I was and asked for details. He had accidentally or perhaps luckily, stumbled on an old smelter where silver ore had been smeltered many years ago. He showed me some of the slag he had picked up from the smelter. He then showed me an old map his family had handed down to him form his great grandfather, who had apparently beeen killed when he walked in on the ones running the smelter. After going through all the records in the library and at the historical society, he decided that he had a good idea of where the actual mine was. This mine was said to have been worked by Johnatha Swift and party in the 1700's. Knowing that all traces would now be covered by vegetation, he bought an LRL from a local man who made them. I accompanied him and another friend when he went searching for the mine. After parking the truck and walking about a mile around the side of a steep hill, the rod swung toward a stand of pine strees some 1/4 mile distance. The terrain was rugged but we managed to climb a ridge above the point where the LRL had been pointing. Aftyer slipping and sliding down to where the spot was we discovered three pine trees set in a triangullar shape, not natural but intentionally planted, for sure. In the triangle of trees was a shaft in the side of a hill. We weren't equipped to explore the shaft and so we took a few sample lying around the shaft to have identified. The two of them went back later and excavated the shaft and recoveerd what silver that had been left or overlooked by those who mined it. I got the opotunity to see first hand how well these things can work. rockhound