Royal Gold Reports Substantial Reserve Increases

 

DENVER, CO - Royal Gold Inc. reported estimates for ore reserves, additional mineralization, and calendar 2009 production forecasts for its royalty portfolio. Updated reserves, additional mineralization and production estimates, as of December 31, 2008, are provided to the Company by the operators of its royalty properties or have been obtained by Royal Gold through publicly available information.

At the end of calendar 2008, total precious metals reserves subject to the Company's royalty interests include 64.2 million ounces of gold and 1.2 billion ounces of silver. This reflects a net gain of 14.7 million ounces of gold and 167 million ounces of silver, representing a 30 % increase in gold reserves and a 16% increase in silver reserves over the prior calendar year-end.

Tony Jensen, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are pleased to report significant increases in our precious metal reserves. Our reserve growth is largely a result of the portfolio of royalties we acquired in the Barrick transaction and the on-going successes of our royalty operators in converting additional mineralized material into reserves, particularly at the Penasquito, Cortez, Canadian Malartic and Mulatos properties. This increase reinforces our strategy to identify and acquire royalty properties with significant upside potential that are managed by top-quality operators."

The company’s address is 1660 Wynkoop Street, Suite 1000, Denver, CO 80202, 303-573-1660.