Aug 13 (Reuters) - Perth Mint's gold product sales picked up in...

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Perth Mint's gold product sales picked up in July, while silver sales rose over 90% on a monthly basis, the refiner said last week.

BY THE NUMBERS

Sales of gold coins and minted bars in July increased 13% from the previous month to 25,475 ounces. However, they were down by 42% compared to last year.

Silver product sales jumped 91% month-on-month to 939,473 ounces, the highest level since February. It posted an 8.8% rise from last year.

KEY QUOTE

"We had a particularly robust month for silver sales in the United States, which is our biggest market,” said Neil Vance, Perth Mint's general manager of minted products.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Perth Mint, owned by the government of Western Australia, is the world's largest producer of newly mined gold. It is also the biggest refiner by volume in Australasia, according to the company's website.

Its intake each year equates to almost 75% of newly mined gold in Australia, one of the world's biggest gold producers.

CONTEXT

Spot gold XAU= prices gained more than 5% last month and had scaled a record high of $2,483.60 on July 17. While silver XAG= prices slipped by 0.3% in July.