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So, before everyone jumps down my throat, yes, I've done my google-fu and I have found that forum-users tend to believe that if a Bard/Summoner/Low level Magi wears a Mithral Breastplate, that they will not suffer any arcane spell failure chance (remember, Bards/Summoners/Low level Magi do not suffer arcane spell failure in light armor). However, the wording is still vague.
When worked like steel, it becomes a wonderful material from which to create armor, and is occasionally used for other items as well. Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations. Heavy armors are treated as medium, and medium armors are treated as light, but light armors are still treated as light. This decrease does not apply to proficiency in wearing the armor. A character wearing mithral full plate must be proficient in wearing heavy armor to avoid adding the armor's check penalty to all his attack rolls and skill checks that involve moving. Spell failure chances for armors and shields made from mithral are decreased by 10%, maximum Dexterity bonuses are increased by 2, and armor check penalties are decreased by 3 (to a minimum of 0).
Since the arcane spell failure ability of bards/summoners/low level Magi deals with a CLASS of armors, and not their PROFICIENCY, it seems like the 'and other limitations' part of the text would take over and allow this. However, since my character is in PFS, I am afraid of table variation and my GM just shutting down my entire build. Anyone know if this has been officially weighed in on yet? Is there an official errata about it? Something I can point to and say "Here, the developers said THIS?"
P.S. YES, I know I could just get 'Elven Chain' and be done with it, however that 1) Costs 1k more, and 2) leaves me with a higher armor check penalty. And yes, my mounted summoner has the 'Armor Expert' trait to mitigate the fact that she's not proficient in medium armors.
I'm not aware of a ruling, but here's my take:
Medium armor made of mithril is treated as light. Light armor doesn't have an arcane failure chance for a summoner. So, a mithril breastplate would have no arcane failure chance for your summoner.
BUT: you take non-proficiency penalties for wearing the medium armor (even though it's made of mithril) unless you have the medium armor proficiency feat.
Bards are core and have the same armored spellcasting mechanic. Mithral is also core. So, if Mithral didn't work with Bardic spellcasting, it should have been mentioned in that text.
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I still had some lingering doubts, but it is answered in the FAQ
This means that mithral armor allows its wearer to use it when her own class features or special abilities demand her to wear lighter armor; in other words, the character wearing the armor is less limited. For example, a bard can cast spells in mithral breastplate without arcane spell failure, a barbarian can use her fast movement in mithral fullplate, a ranger can use his combat style in mithral fullplate, brawlers, swashbucklers, and gunslingers can keep their nimble bonus in mithral breastplate, rogues keep evasion in mithral breastplate, a brawler can flurry in mithral breastplate, characters without Endurance can sleep in mithral breastplate without becoming fatigued, and so on. It does not change the armor’s actual category, which means that you can still store a creature one size category larger in a hosteling mithral fullplate, and you can’t enhance a mithral breastplate with special abilities that require it to be light armor, like brawling (though you could enhance it with special abilities that require it to be medium armor), and so on.