Rescuers were working on Sunday to reach 18 people trapped underground after a cave-in at a gold mine in Xinjiang region, state media reported.

A total of 40 people were working underground at the mine in Yining county, about 100 kilometres from China's border with Kazakhstan, at the time of the collapse on Saturday afternoon.

Twenty-two miners were brought to the surface but 18 remained trapped.

"A rescue operation is underway to retrieve the remaining miners," Xinhua reported late on Saturday.

In September last year, 19 miners stranded underground after the collapse of a coal mine in the northwest province of Qinghai were found dead after a long search.

Three months later, 20 miners were rescued from a flooded coal mine in northern Shanxi province, while two others died. (AFP)