FACTBOX-Recent mining disasters in Latam and elsewhere

Jan 27 (Reuters) - At least 21 mine workers were killed and many were injured on Wednesday in an explosion in a coal mine in Colombia that authorities said was likely caused by methane gas.

The blast was the latest in a string of deadly mine accidents in South America, which includes major producers of extracted raw materials like coal, copper, gold and iron ore.

Colombia, the world's fifth largest coal exporter, has experienced a string of mine disasters in recent years.

Full story: [ID:nN27121959]

Here are some recent deadly incidents in the region:

* October 2010, 33 miners trapped after a cave-in at a small gold and copper mine in northern Chile were rescued after spending two months 2,050 feet (625 meters) underground. The miners were pulled to safety in a cramped specially designed capsule, after surviving on food, medicine and water passed down the bore-hole. Mining accidents are relatively rare in major operations in Chile, the world's No. 1 copper producer.

* August 2010, a collapsed tunnel at a wildcat gold pit in south Venezuela killed at least six people.

* June 2010, more than 70 miners were killed after a gas explosion at a coal mine in Colombia. It took rescuers days to pull out all the bodies after the country's worst mining disasters in decades.

* February 2010, eight workers died at a coal mine in the northern Peruvian province of Oyon. The government called it an informal mine. About 60 miners die each year in Peru and 620 have lost their lives in the past decade, according to official data. Peru is a leading metals exporter.

* In 2009, a methane gas explosion killed eight workers in another provincial Colombian coal mine and in 2007, 31 miners were killed in an explosion in the country's Norte de Santander province.

* In 2009, at least seven Bolivian miners died after inhaling poisons gases in the country's mines. Around 60,000 miners work in Bolivia, many of whom are small-scale miners operating with little safety equipment or monitoring.

* In 2006, 65 miners died after an explosion at Mexico's Pasta de Conchos coal mine, owned by Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX). The blast was blamed on an accumulation of methane and coal dust. Union officials accused the company of ignoring safety problems at the mine. The company denied the allegations. The disaster contributed to a breakdown in relations between Grupo Mexico and the miners' union.

OTHER RECENT MINING DISASTERS AROUND THE WORLD:

* April 2010 - UNITED STATES - An explosion killed 29 miners in West Virginia in the deadliest U.S. mine disaster since 1984.

* January 2010 - CHINA - At least 25 miners died in a fire at a colliery in Hunan Province in central China.

* February 2005 - CHINA - A gas explosion at the Sunjiawan colliery of state-owned Fuxin Coal Industry Group kills 214. (Compiled by Alden Bentley in New York, Patrick Markey in Bogota, Terry Wade in Lima, Robert Campbell in Mexico City and Eduardo Garcia in La Paz; Editing by Marguerita Choy)