The Perth Mint's sales of gold products in February rose 8.9% to their highest in three months as sales got a boost from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, while silver sales fell about 32% on the month, the refiner said in a blog post on Friday.

"As many people would expect in the current crisis situation, interest in physical gold is also strengthening and this is reflected in rebounding sales of The Perth Mint's leading gold coins and minted bars," Neil Vance, general manager, Minted Products at the mint, said in the post.

Monthly sales of gold coins and minted bars rose to 72,651 ounces in February, the highest since November last year, but still down 41% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, sales of silver products dropped to 1,632,323 ounces in February, falling nearly 11% from the same month in 2021.

Benchmark spot gold prices jumped about 6.2% last month in its biggest monthly gain since May, while silver registered its best monthly rise since December 2020 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine spurred demand for safe havens.

The Perth Mint, owned by the government of Western Australia, is the world's largest producer of newly mined gold and highest volume refiner in Australasia, according to the refiner's website.

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

(Reporting by Rahul Paswan and Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Louise Heavens)