Please visit our ESG Document Library for all our essential ESG documents.

SUSTAINABILITY IS OUR BUSINESS MODEL

Royal Gold acquires and manages precious metals streams, royalties and similar interests in mining projects operated by third parties. Our business model is designed to provide shareholders with long term exposure to resource upside and metal price optionality for the life of a mining project.

We understand that sustained economic performance cannot be obtained without sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. As such, the sustainability of our investments is fundamental to our long term success.

Metal streams and royalties are passive interests in mining projects. While we do not take an active role in the management of these projects and generally have limited influence over the decisions of our operators, it has always been a core tenet of our business model that successful mining projects create sustainable benefits for all stakeholders – including shareholders, project labor and local communities. Therefore, in line with our Environmental, Social, and Governance Policy, we seek to promote responsible and sustainable mineral development across our portfolio.

Royal Gold endorses the International Council on Mining and Metals’ (ICMM) 10 Principles of Sustainable Development and participated in implementation of the World Gold Council’s Responsible Gold Mining Principles (RGMPs), each of which promote ethical and sustainable resource development.



We integrate these principles into Royal Gold’s own business planning and operations as appropriate and encourage our operating partners, whom we consider to be members of our supply chain, to adhere to these or similar principles in their own management and operations. For calendar year 2021, operators responsible for generating more than 93% of our revenue also endorsed either the World Gold Council’s Responsible Gold Mining Principles, International Council on Mining and Metals Principles for Sustainable Development, and/or subscribed to one or more similar international charters respecting ESG issues.

Please visit the Our Partners page of our website for selected details of our operators’ ESG standards and achievements.

HOW WE MANAGE OUR BUSINESS

Royal Gold considers and applies ESG standards in our corporate strategic planning and risk management, in the review of new opportunities for investment, the acquisition of new investments and in monitoring of investments in our existing portfolio. In calendar year 2021, the Compensation, Nominating and Governance Committee began formally evaluating the management of ESG considerations relevant to Royal Gold as part of the annual short term incentive compensation (bonus) program for all company executives. The intent of this was to align executive management’s interests with the ESG interests of our shareholders and other stakeholders.

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND RISK MANAGEMENT

The sustainability of our business depends in significant measure on our ability to identify and manage the ESG risks inherent in our investments. For this reason, consideration of these risks is central to the development of our corporate strategy and the ongoing oversight and management of our business.

ESG and other enterprise risks are monitored by the members of the Enterprise Risk Management Committee, which is comprised of the members of our Executive Management Team. This committee receives input from other members of the Royal Gold team, including individuals with responsibility for new business generation, financial performance, legal compliance and technical assessment of our stream and royalty interests. The Enterprise Risk Management Committee meets regularly to consider present and potential risks to Royal Gold’s ongoing success, to determine appropriate mitigation for risks that might arise and to execute on mitigation strategies as appropriate.

Our ESG strategy is reviewed at least annually by our President and CEO with senior management and is modified as necessary as part of our corporate strategic planning and enterprise risk management processes. Relevant updates are discussed between senior management and presented to the members of the CNG Committee. This enables an integrated approach to ESG as part of risk management, with input from Royal Gold management to the Board and its committees.

The Royal Gold Board of Directors has oversight of the Enterprise Risk Management Program. Management presents reports to the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis and as otherwise appropriate. The Board of Directors also reviews the adequacy of the Enterprise Risk Management Program on an annual basis and provides direction to management on appropriate changes to the Program that align with the Company’s business strategy.

Our process for considering ESG issues in corporate strategic planning and risk management is summarized in the figure below.

The Board of Directors manages two teams: Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Corporate Strategic Planning. Enterprise Risk Management delivers regular reports to the board, who oversees and direct the ERM program. Corporate Strategic Planning outlines the strategic plan annually, which is presented to the board for approval

OUR INVESTMENT PROCESS

When developing new business, we seek partners who share our commitment to leading ESG practices.

Review of all new investment opportunities is the responsibility of the Royal Gold Investment Committee. The Investment Committee is led by our CEO, with support from the Executive Management team. These individuals bring extensive experience in the technical, financial and legal aspects of mining project investment, development and operations, and may be supported by external experts in subject matter areas including, but not limited to: permitting, geology, resource estimation, construction, mining operations, metallurgy and ore processing, water supply, tailings management, community engagement, political risk, and offtake marketing and sales.

The Investment Committee manages a rigorous due diligence process for new investments. Areas of review include, but are not limited to:

  • Geology, including exploration potential;
  • Resource estimation;
  • Mining methodology;
  • Mine geotechnical stability;
  • Metallurgy and ore processing;
  • Environmental, social and governance;
  • GHG emissions and climate change;
  • Permitting, including local view of ongoing or future permitting requirements;
  • Political risk;
  • Project execution and capital cost;
  • Tailings storage and waste rock management;
  • Water supply and water management;
  • Infrastructure; and
  • Closure plans

Due diligence findings and conclusions are compiled in detailed written reports, which are reviewed with the Board of Directors prior to making any new investment.

OUR CONTRACTING PRINCIPLES

When entering into a new agreement for a metal stream or royalty, we seek durable contract structures that typically include the following elements intended to both limit the ESG risks associated with our investment, and provide for adequate communication or investigation of ESG risks that might arise from time to time, notwithstanding our passive business model:

  • Operating Covenants: Requiring Operators to conduct project operations in compliance with host country laws and permits and, where possible, industry-recognized best practices for mine operations and management and mitigation of ESG risks.
  • Information Rights and Reporting Obligations: Provide for transparency and regular and exception-based reporting of material developments in project operations, labor matters, environmental issues and concerns of local communities and other stakeholders.
  • Inspection and Audit Rights: Allow for regular inspection of project operations and audit of operator books and records.
  • Delivery Standards: Where we take delivery of precious metals, requiring that those deliveries satisfy the London Bullion Market Association’s (LBMA) “Good Delivery” standards, including adherence to LBMA’s “Responsible Sourcing Programme”, designed to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and human rights abuses in the precious metals markets.
  • Transfer Restrictions: Create reasonable restraints on the transfer of project ownership to ensure that projects continue to be owned and operated by strong and reputable counterparties.
  • Remedies: Allow for monetary and other damages and rights, including contract termination and recovery of Royal Gold’s economic interest under certain circumstances.

MONITORING OUR INVESTMENTS

The Asset Assurance Committee completes active monitoring and auditing of our stream and royalty interests and takes action to protect our interests as required. Our Asset Assurance Committee is staffed by selected members of executive and senior management. 

We actively monitor our stream and royalty interests to understand their economic, operational health, and their “Social License to Operate.” Our stream agreements typically have extensive information rights while our royalty agreements typically do not provide us with a contractual right to detailed information. In these instances, we rely on public information and a positive working relationship with the Operators to obtain our monitoring data. Where we have the right to do so we often perform site visits to interface with Operator management teams.

In addition to the above, we further rely on third-party information sources that:

  • Aggregate and vet site-specific data with respect to energy, GHG emissions and water usage along with associated usage intensity;
  • Collect negative ESG news events and rank ESG risk on an asset, company and country basis;
  • Systematically collect news articles relating to our Operators; and
  • Collect digital satellite images of our Principal Properties on a request basis.