SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A tin mine collapse at an illegal mining operation in China's southwestern Yunnan province killed seven villagers, state media reported on Monday, citing local government officials.

Eight people entered an abandoned tin mine in the province's Dali autonomous prefecture on Saturday night, and their excavation caused the mine to cave in, the Web site Chinanews.com.cn said. One of the villagers was rescued.

The accident happened two days after benchmark tin prices on the London Metal Exchange hit its contract high of $18,900 a ton.

China is the world's largest producer of the metal, with large amounts coming from Yunnan and the neighboring region of Guangxi.

(Reporting by Alfred Cang; editing by Ken Wills)

prefecture   the district administered by a prefect (as in France or Japan or the Roman Empire)