DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD; TSX: RGL), announces
updated estimates for ore reserves and mineralized material1
as of December 31, 2015. These figures are provided by the operators of
properties on which the Company holds royalties, streams and similar
interests, or are obtained by Royal Gold through publicly available
information.
At the end of calendar 2015, precious metals reserves on properties
subject to the Company’s interests were 86.1 million ounces of gold and
779.5 million ounces of silver. This compares to reserves of 73.7
million ounces of gold and 764.0 million ounces of silver estimated as
of December 31, 2014.
After applying the Company’s interests to the reserves noted above, net
gold reserves2 attributable to Royal Gold totaled 5.8 million
ounces, compared with 5.1 million ounces at year-end 2014. On a gold
equivalent basis, using a silver to gold ratio of approximately 77:1,
precious metals reserves attributable to Royal Gold increased 21% to 6.4
million ounces, on a net reserve basis, compared with 5.3 million ounces
for the same period ended 2014. The increase in reserves were primarily
due to our acquisition of the Wassa and Prestea, Rainy River, Andacollo
and Pueblo Viejo streams.
The complete Royalty/Metal
Stream Portfolio, which includes the ore reserves and mineralized
material1 subject to the Company's interests on producing and
development properties, can be found on our website.
For further information about our royalties, metal streams and similar
interests, please see our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as our
other public reports.
CORPORATE PROFILE
Royal Gold is a precious metals royalty and stream company engaged in
the acquisition and management of precious metal royalties, streams, and
similar production based interests. The Company owns interests on 193
properties on six continents, including interests on 38 producing mines
and 24 development stage projects. Royal Gold is publicly traded on the
NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “RGLD,” and on the Toronto
Stock Exchange under the symbol “RGL.” The Company’s website is located
at www.royalgold.com.
Cautionary "Safe Harbor" Statement Under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: With the exception of historical
matters, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from projections or estimates contained
herein. Such forward-looking statements include reserves and additional
mineralization estimates provided by the operators or obtained by Royal
Gold through publicly available information; the sliding-scale features
of our royalty structure at certain of our properties; and estimates of
commencement of production at projects in development. Net gold and
metal reserves attributable to Royal Gold’s royalty, stream and other
interests are subject to certain assumptions and, like reserves, do not
reflect actual ounces that will be produced. Like any royalty, stream or
similar interest on a non-producing or not-yet-in-development project,
our interests on development projects are subject to certain risks, such
as the ability of the operators to bring the projects into production
and operate in accordance with their feasibility studies, and the
ability of Royal Gold to make accurate assumptions regarding valuation
and timing and amount of payments. In addition, many of our interests
are subject to risks associated with conducting business in a foreign
country, including application of foreign laws to contract and other
disputes, foreign environmental laws and enforcement and uncertain
political and economic environments. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially include, among others, precious metals,
copper and nickel prices; performance of and production at the Company's
royalty and stream properties; the ability of operators of development
properties to finance project construction to completion and bring
projects into production as expected; operators’ delays in securing or
inability to secure necessary governmental permits; decisions and
activities of the operators of the Company's royalty and stream
properties; unanticipated grade, environmental, geological, seismic,
metallurgical, processing, liquidity or other problems the operators of
the mining properties may encounter; completion of feasibility studies;
changes in operators’ project parameters as plans continue to be
refined; changes in estimates of reserves and mineralization by the
operators of the Company’s royalty and stream properties; contests to
the Company’s royalty and stream interests and title and other defects
to the Company’s royalty and stream properties; errors or disputes in
calculating royalty and stream payments, or payments not made in
accordance with royalty and stream agreements; economic and market
conditions; risks associated with conducting business in foreign
countries; changes in laws governing the Company and its royalty and
stream properties or the operators of such properties; and other
subsequent events; as well as other factors described in the Company’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and other
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Most of these
factors are beyond the Company's ability to predict or control. The
Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement
made herein. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on
forward-looking statements.
|
1
|
|
|
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize this
term. Mineralized material is that part of a mineral system that has
potential economic significance but cannot be included in the proven
and probable ore reserve estimates until further drilling and
metallurgical work is completed, and until other economic and
technical feasibility factors based upon such work have been
resolved. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all
of the mineral deposits in this category will ever be converted into
reserves.
|
|
2
|
|
|
Net gold reserves are calculated net of per ounce payments for the
Company’s gold streams.
|
|
|
|
|
|

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160427006813/en/
Source: Royal Gold, Inc.