Shares of Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) were holding up pretty well in August -- until this week, when they crashed. Although the copper stock gained some ground on Friday, it was still down about 11.6% for the week as of 2:20 p.m. ET, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

There's a valid reason why Freeport-McMoRan shares came under selling pressure.

Copper prices hit one-month lows this week, and have now fallen for five consecutive months. In fact, prices of most base metals -- and with that, most metals and mining stocks -- took a hard hit over the past several days as fears of a slump in demand loom large, thanks to China.

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Source Fool.com