Royal Gold owns various royalty interests across the Cortez Complex that include coverage of the producing Pipeline and Crossroads mines (the Legacy Zone), and the Cortez Pits and Cortez Hills mines, and the Goldrush, Fourmile and Robertson development projects, and several exploration targets (the Cortez Complex Zone or CC Zone) on a large land package. Several of these royalty interests overlap in certain areas, creating multiple effective royalty rates across the Cortez Complex.
Legacy Zone
The Legacy Zone royalties were acquired in a series of transactions over multi-decades beginning in 1987 when Royal Gold was a party within a joint venture that leased claims covering an area within what would become known as the South Pipeline Project. The two most recent transactions, from August and December 2022, further increased Royal Gold’s royalty interest over the area. An approximate overall 9.4% GSR rate is applicable to Royal Gold’s interests in the Legacy Zone.
CC Zone
The CC Zone royalties were primarily acquired in two transactions in 2022 (Royal Gold had an existing royalty interest on the southeast portion of the Goldrush deposit, which was acquired in 2014) and significantly increased Royal Gold’s exposure to the overall Cortez Complex. With these two acquisitions, Royal Gold’s exposure to the Cortez Complex increased and provided new royalty coverage to the producing Cortez Pits and Cortez Hills mines, Fourmile and Robertson development projects, and several exploration targets, while provided additional royalty coverage at the Goldrush development project. Royalty rates over these areas include a 0.45% GSR at Robertson project, an approximate 1.6% GSR rate at Cortez Hills, Cortez Pits, Goldrush and Fourmile, and an approximate 2.2% GSR rate on the southeast portion of Goldrush.
Other Royalties
Royal Gold also owns three additional royalties in the Cortez Complex where there is currently no production and no mineral resources or mineral reserves attributed to these royalty interests.
The description of our royalty interest at Cortez should be read in conjunction with the corresponding area of interest map.
