Sil (river)
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| Sil (Río Sil) | |
| River | |
 The Sil Canyon as seen from the river
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| Country | Spain |
|---|---|
| Autonomous Community | Castilla y Leon, Galicia |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Boeza, Cabrera, Bibei, Navea, Mao |
| - right | Caboalles, Cúa,Burbia, Selmo, Soldón, Lor, Cabe |
| City | Ponferrada |
| Source | Villablino |
| - location | León, Castilla y León, Spain |
| - coordinates | 43°01′54″N 6°09′19″W / 43.031615°N 6.155348°W |
| Source confluence | Os Peares |
| - location | Ourense, Galicia, Spain |
| - coordinates | 42°27′14″N 7°43′48″W / 42.453844°N 7.729912°W |
| Mouth | Miño Estuary |
| - location | Atlantic Ocean, Spain & Portugal |
| - elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Length | 228 km (142 mi) |
| Reservoirs | Las Rozas, Bárcena, Penarrubia, Pumares, Santiago, San Martiño, Sequeiros, Santo Estevo, San Pedro ou Pombeiros |
The Sil is a river in León (Castile and León) and Galicia, Spain, a tributary of the Miño. Its total length is 225 km. The source of the Sil is in the Cantabrian Mountains in the Leonese town of Villablino. It flows through the provinces of León and Ourense. The largest city on the Sil is Ponferrada (León). The Sil flows into the Miño upstream from Ourense.
[edit] Gold deposits
The river has been a rich source of alluvial gold, and was most extensively exploited during the Roman period, following the conquest of north-west Spain by Augustus in 25 BC. The upper reaches of the river possessed large placer deposits, and the region around Las Medulas yielded large amounts of gold. It was extracted using hydraulic mining, involving the building of numerous aqueducts to expose and wash the alluvial formations.
[edit] See also
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