Fresnillo other miners slide as gold, silver and copper prices tumble as oil spikes
Published: 11:13 18 Mar 2026 EDT
Mining company shares were under pressure on Wednesday afternoon as precious and industrial metals prices fell, seemingly in connection with the conflict in the Middle East and a rise in government borrowing costs.
On the FTSE 100, precious metals miners Fresnillo PLC (LSE:FRES) and Endeavour Mining PLC (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV, OTCQX:EDVMF, FRA:6E2) dropped 4.9% and 3.3%, copper specialist Antofagasta PLC (LSE:ANTO) declined 3.3%, while Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) slipped 1.8% and Rio Tinto Ltd (LSE:RIO, ASX:RIO, OTC:RTNTF) was down 1.4%.
Among the mid-caps Hochschild Mining PLC (LSE:HOC, OTCQX:HCHDF) fell 6.2%, Pan African Resources PLC (LSE:PAF, OTCQX:PAFRY) dropped 4.6% and Atalaya Mining Copper (LSE:ATYM, TSX:AYM) declined 1.4%.
The price of gold was down 2.6% at $4,879 an ounce, a four-week low, while silver dropped 2.9% to $77/oz and copper prices were also down 3%.
Falls followed a spike in oil prices, with Brent crude rising 5.4% to $19 a barrel on reports that Gulf oil and gas producers were evacuating multiple sites after warnings of attacks from Iran.
Iran warned countries around the Gulf that various energy industry assets are now "legitimate targets" after Israel attacked its giant South Pars gas field. Facilities in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are on a list of places at risk of missile strikes, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
Market analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo noted that Iran and Israel's retaliatory threats were on regional energy production infrastructure "previously thought safe".
Iran has said its South Pars field – the biggest in the world and shared with Qatar – and neighbouring refineries had been hit.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran was reported to be allowing some ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran arranged to transport oil via Turkiye.
This had seemed to lift the market mood, "as it suggested that the conflict could be isolated to a US-Israel vs Iran standoff, whilst trading and energy flows through the Strait could continue, albeit at diminished levels to before the onset of the conflict", said Wilson.
He noted that the price of gold slumped through its 50-day single-moving-average on the back of a spike in government bond yields following US factory gate inflation.
