The mines at Cecos: the pits of El Castelo
The pits of El Castelo are part of the mines on the right bank of the Ibias River, which were focused on the hard rock gold deposits there. At Cecos and Villamayor there are, apart from these pits, those of A Pena del Corvo, as well as remains of the hydraulic systems employed, and the tailings, both gross and fine, as well as the mortars of Cecos and Pousadoiro, which were used for grinding the ore.
The pits adjacent to the settlement of El Castelo, to the northwest of Cecos, are two small examples (named El Castelo 1 and 2). They are currently covered by dense vegetation which complicates a proper assessment and study on the ground. El Castelo 1 is slightly larger (somewhat more than 100 m long, some 40 m of maximum width and 15/20 m deep), and it is immediately north of the hillfort of Cecos, whose western side is flanked by the evacuation channel. It is possible that the ditches that delimit the settlement on its northern side were built by deepening the canals providing water to the mines. In the higher part there is a deposit used in that network of some 30 x 10 m. The water was brought in by a canal that entered in the east side, bringing water from El Castelo stream.
El Castelo 2 pit is directly east of 1, and it is slightly more modest. The evacuation channel pours onto the river and the tailings have filled the stream of El Castelo, creating an alluvial fan of up to 2 m in depth, as the very erosion which the stream has later caused has revealed.