** Shares of silver miners rise premarket, tracking gains in prices of the white metal GOL/

** Spot silver XAG= rises 1.7% to $97.85 per ounce, after hitting a record high of $99.34 earlier

** Surge in prices powered by diminishing confidence in U.S. assets on account of geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty

** Hecla Mining HL.N up 2.2%; Coeur Mining CDE.N rises 1.6%

** Canadian miners Endeavour Silver EDR.TO, EXK.N advances 1.2%; Silvercorp Metals SVM.TO, SVM.N inches up ~1%

** Abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF SIVR.P and iShares Silver Trust ETF SLV.P both rise 2.4%

(Reporting by Dharna Bafna in Bengaluru)

((dharna.bafna@thomsonreuters.com))