* Trump promises to rebuild U.S. infrastructure
* Gold attracts safe haven buyers
By Zandi Shabalala
LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Mining companies led gains on London's FTSE bluechip index on Wednesday as Republican Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election spurred hopes for higher metal demand and drove investors to buy gold as a shelter against economic uncertainty.
The FTSE mining index .FTNMX1770 rose around 5 percent to its highest level since May 2015 led by gold and silver miner Fresnillo FRES.L .
In his victory speech Trump reiterated that he had a great economic plan and would embark on a project to rebuild U.S. infrastructure and double U.S. economic growth. said they were reassessing their commodities outlooks following the Trump victory and a strong rally this year, which has reversed the trend of 2015 when raw materials and mining companies crashed, has yet to lose momentum.
"The 2016 rally could have more to go, their (the miners') outlook is a lot brighter now," Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at derivatives trader IG Group, said.
Gold prices have risen about 25 percent since the start of the year, but are down from two-year highs after Britain's vote to leave the European Union in June, while other commodities, such as coal and zinc, have climbed more.
Beauchamp predicted diversified miners would gain more than gold miners over the longer term.
Other analysts also saw positive momentum for mining firms following the U.S. election, despite economic uncertainty that could erode demand.
"A Trump victory is positive for the miners. Infrastructure investment in the U.S. is likely to increase, which bodes well for demand for copper and other mined commodities," analyst Jefferies said in a note.
The top six FTSE 100 index .FTSE performers this year are mining companies. They include Anglo American AAL.L , which has risen 292 percent so far this year and Glencore (LON:GLEN), up 195 percent. Both companies lost around 70 percent last year.
On Wednesday, the world's second biggest miner by market capitalisation Rio Tinto 's RIO.L rose 5.5 percent to its highest level since May 2015, despite suspending one executive and accepting the resignation of a second following the discovery of unexplained payments to a consultant on its Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. whose main mines are in Mexico, benefited from the rising gold price and a devaluation of the Mexican peso, Barclays (LON:BARC) said in a note.
Spot gold XAU= jumped nearly 5 percent, paring gains to trade 0.8 percent higher in later trade, while the most traded base metal, benchmark copper CMCU3 hit a 15-month high.
(Editing by Barbara Lewis and David Evans)