12 people rescued from Colorado goldmine

Twelve people who were trapped 300m underground for six hours in a former Colorado gold mine that is now a tourist attraction have been rescued, Colorado Governor Jared Polis said in a statement.

One person died following a lift failure at the site which led to the people being trapped, officials said.

Responders were able to get the lift functioning again and brought up the trapped people - 11 tourists and one tour guide - four at a time, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell told reporters.

The incident at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine attraction in Cripple Creek, Colorado, began around noon local time when a lift that was about halfway down the mine shaft malfunctioned.

One person died and four others sustained minor injuries, officials said.

Emergency responders had radio communication with the people trapped below, and they had water, blankets and chairs to keep them comfortable, Sheriff Mikesell said.

Engineers from the state, mine safety experts and the Colorado Springs Fire Department were on hand.

Colorado Springs is about 72km from Cripple Creek, through mountain roads near the Pikes Peak summit in the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.

A family business has been operating tours at the Mollie Kathleen mine for more than 50 years, with only one previous, unspecified safety incident in 1986, the sheriff said.

The one-hour tours show how gold was mined at the site since it was discovered there in 1891 by a woman named Mollie Kathleen Gortner, according to the tour's website. Temperatures underground are typically around 10C.

Tours date to the early days of the mine but became its main function after mining was discontinued in 1961, the site says. The last tour of the season had been scheduled for Sunday.