Royal Gold Provides Update On Its Fiscal 2018 Third Quarter

DENVER, CO - Royal Gold, Inc. reported that its wholly owned subsidiary, RGLD Gold AG, sold approximately 63,000 gold equivalent ounces comprised of approximately 49,000 gold ounces, 272,000 silver ounces and 2,000 tonnes of copper related to its streaming agreements during its fiscal 2018 third quarter. The Company had approximately 26,000 gold ounces and 659,000 silver ounces in inventory at March 31, 2018, an increase over the prior quarter due to deliveries received late in the quarter.

RGLD Gold AG’s average realized gold, silver and copper prices for the third quarter were $1,328 per ounce, $16.77 per ounce, and $6,902 per tonne ($3.13 per pound), respectively, compared to $1,272, $16.79, and $6,746 ($3.06 per pound) in the prior quarter, respectively. Cost of sales was approximately $342 per gold equivalent ounce for the third quarter using the quarterly average silver-gold ratio of approximately 79 to 1 and gold-copper ratio of approximately 0.19 tonnes per ounce, compared to $319 per gold equivalent ounce in the prior quarter. Cost of sales is specific to our stream agreements and is the result of the Company’s purchase of gold, silver or copper for cash payments at a set contractual price, or a percentage of the prevailing market price of gold, silver or copper when purchased.

The Company’s third quarter deliveries were not yet impacted by the temporary shutdown of the mill processing facility at Mount Milligan that occurred in early calendar 2018. Due to the timing of shipments and deliveries of gold and copper, the Company expects the impact of the temporary shutdown to be reflected in Royal Gold’s mid-calendar 2018 results, as some of the deliveries of gold and copper that were expected in the June through August 2018 period will be deferred to a later date. Centerra restarted mill operations on February 5, 2018 with a single ball mill. On March 23, 2018, Centerra reported that the second ball mill has been restarted and that they expect to achieve average sustainable throughput levels of 55,000 tonnes per day for the second half of the calendar year.

Royal Gold repaid $75 million of the outstanding balance on its revolving credit facility during the third quarter. As of March 31, 2018, there was $75 million outstanding on the revolver, resulting in $925 million available under the Company’s credit facility.

The Company continues to evaluate the carrying value of its 0.78% to 5.45% sliding-scale net smelter return (“NSR”) gold royalty and 1.09% NSR copper royalty on Barrick’s Pascua-Lama project. Royal Gold’s carrying value was $416.8 million as of December 31, 2017. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, of Barrick’s recent reclassification of proven and probable gold reserves1 of approximately 14 million ounces for the Pascua-Lama project as measured and indicated resources.