• Shares of silver miners down, tracking prices of bullion [GOL/]

• Spot silver falls 5.3% to $49.63/ounce

• Prices plunge as rising crude oil prices and persistent inflation worries reinforced expectations of US interest rate hikes

• Hecla Mining and Coeur Mining down 5.8% and ~6%, respectively

• Canadian miners: Endeavour Silver slides 6.2% and Silvercorp Metals slips 5.7%

• Physical Silver Shares ETF and iShares Silver Trust each plunge 5.2%

(Reporting by Dharna Bafna in Bengaluru)