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Six people who tried their fortune in an abandoned gold mine in North China's Shanxi Province have been confirmed dead, media reported on Monday citing local police.   

The authorities and police in Jiangxian county, Shanxi Province, said they launched a search for six persons, all from the Songxian county, Luoyang city, in Central China's Henan Province, after they were reported missing early Monday, Xinhua News Agency reported. 

A person surnamed Li, also from Henan, reported to the police that six persons went missing after they entered a cave, which they thought to be a mine, in the Ceyu mountain in Jiangxian on Thursday, according to media reports.  

Local authorities then organized a rescue team to search for them in the mountain. 

They found the six persons 2,700 meters into the cave. Medical workers at the site checked them but all were declared dead, local authorities told media.  

Local police told media that the six illegal miners tried to wash gold in the abandoned mine to make some money, which is illegal in China. They police said they are still investigating in the case.  

Washing gold in abandoned gold mines is not uncommon in Henan, especially in recent years given the rising price of the metal. The illegal miners would use hypertoxic sodium cyanide to wash gold in closed mines, according to media reports. 

Gold prices stayed above the key price level of $1,800 per ounce on Monday, according to Reuters. 

In June, four people from Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, were found dead of asphyxia in a closed gold mine in the Dahu village, in Sanmenxia, Henan Province. Washing gold for 10 to 15 days in a mine like this could bring the suspects as much as 1 million yuan ($157,000) in illegal profits, the authorities told media.   

Only about one month after the case, three people were found dead in another mine in Zhazhagou, Sanmenxia, which is about 100 kilometers from Dahu village.  

Sanmenxia authorities have reportedly launched measures to crack down on these illegal activities following the two cases.