** Shares of Australian miners .AXMM fall as much as 3.1%, hitting their lowest level since March 3
** Sub-index tracks iron ore prices higher, which gained on a raft of upbeat data from top consumer China IRONORE/
** Mining giants BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX both rose over 3%, hitting record highs
** PLS Group PLS.AX adds over 4%, while South32 S32.AX gains 3%
** AXMM up nearly 20% this year, including the day's move
(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru)
((Rajasik.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com))