More than 20 young adults have died from various cancers over the past four years in Xiaji village, Meizhou city, Guangdong province, which has only 1,000 residents.

The cancers are being blamed on a lead zinc ore mine that started operating nearby in 2003.

The ore district contains about 12.37 square kilometers and is estimated to have an ore reserve of more than 8 million tons.

However, local officials said that the ore prospecting has nothing to do with the cancers.