Perth Mint's gold sales dive 30%, silver soars m/m in June

Australia (July 1) - The Perth Mint's sales of gold products declined 30% in June from a month earlier, while silver sales surged nearly 58%, the refiner said in a blog post on Wednesday. Sales of gold coins and minted bars last month fell to 44,371 ounces from 63,393 in May, when the sales halved.

The slide in gold sales came in the wake of the mint's announcement last month that it would stop processing metal from artisanal and small-scale miners following allegations that it took gold dug in Papua New Guinea using child labour and toxic mercury.

Meanwhile, sales of silver coins in June rose to 1,573,752 ounces from 997,171 the month before, and more than trebled from the corresponding period last year.

Benchmark gold prices rose 3% in June, while silver gained 1.6%. The Perth Mint, owned by the government of Western Australia, refines more than 90% of newly mined gold in Australia, one of the world's top gold producers.

Reuters