Royal Gold owns multiple royalty interests at the Cortez Complex as shown in the table below.
Our royalty ownership has grown over time through several transactions, and our royalty interests from those transactions are referred to in the table as the Legacy Royalties (which consolidates several royalties created and/or acquired by Royal Gold prior to 2022), and the Rio Tinto Royalty and the Idaho Royalty both acquired in 2022.
To simplify the presentation of our royalty interests across the producing mines and development projects situated within the Cortez Complex, we refer to the areas of the Cortez Complex that include the Pipeline and Crossroads mines as the “Legacy Zone” and the remainder of the Cortez Complex, which includes the Cortez Hills and Cortez Pits mines, and the Goldrush, Fourmile and Robertson development projects as the “CC Zone”, and provide approximate blended royalty rates that reflect the multiple overlapping royalties for each mine and deposit.
Royalty History
Legacy Royalties
The Legacy Royalties were acquired in a series of transactions, over multi-decades. Key events to highlight, include:
- In 1987, Royal Gold was a party within a joint venture (Crescent Valley Joint Venture) that leased 200 claims from ECM, Inc., which covered an area within what would come to be known as the South Pipeline Project.• In 1987, Royal Gold was a party within a joint venture (Crescent Valley Joint Venture) that leased 200 claims from ECM, Inc., which covered an area within what would come to be known as the South Pipeline Project.
- In 1992, Placer Dome U.S. Inc. granted Royal Gold either a 20% net profits interest royalty or a sliding-scale net smelter return royalty according to a schedule tied to indexed gold prices which ranged from 2.5% at $350/oz up to 5.5% in excess of $500/oz (at Royal Gold’s selection) for the right to mine on the leased ground. In 1999 this option was converted into two gross smelter return royalties (GSR1 & GSR2).
- In 1999, Royal Gold purchased a fix-rate royalty (GSR3).
- In 2001, Royal Gold acquired a 0.37% net value royalty (NVR1). In 2008, Royal Gold acquired a portfolio of royalties from Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick). As consideration for the acquisition, Royal Gold paid Barrick cash and agreed to restructure the royalty positions to reduce the royalty burden on the undeveloped Crossroads deposit.
- In 2014, Royal Gold acquired a 1.0% net revenue royalty (NVR2) on the southern end of Barrick’s Goldrush deposit in Nevada from a private landowner.
- In 2016, Royal Gold acquired an incremental 3.75% net value royalty on a significant area of the Cortez property, including the Crossroads deposit, from a private party seller.
Rio Tinto Royalty
On August 2, 2022, Royal Gold acquired a sliding-scale gross royalty (the “Rio Tinto Royalty”) on an area covering approximately 300 square miles which includes the producing Crossroads, Pipeline, Cortez Pits and Cortez Hills mines, the Goldrush and Fourmile development projects, and several exploration targets.
The Rio Tinto Royalty is a life of mine sliding scale gross royalty payable at a rate of 0% at a gold price less than $400/oz, increasing to 3% at a gold price above $900/oz, and is payable on 40% of all production from the Cortez Complex (excluding the existing Robertson deposits). Deductions from the royalty payments are limited to third-party royalties that existed prior to 2008, which include the Legacy Royalties and the Idaho Royalty. The Rio Tinto Royalty is payable after cumulative production from the Cortez Complex since January 1, 2008 exceeded 15 million gold equivalent ounces. The payment threshold was achieved in the third quarter of 2022.
Idaho Royalty
On December 30, 2022, Royal Gold acquired portions of a gross smelter return royalty (the “Idaho Royalty”) on an area covering approximately 630 square miles of the Cortez Complex, which includes the producing Crossroads, Pipeline, Cortez Pits and Cortez Hills mines, the Goldrush and Fourmile development projects and the existing deposits at the Robertson development project, as well as several exploration targets.
The Idaho Royalty has a 0.24% gross royalty rate over areas including the Pipeline and Crossroads deposits, and a 0.45% gross royalty rate over areas including the Cortez Hills, Cortez Pits, Goldrush, Fourmile and the Robertson deposits. The Idaho Royalty is life of mine, is not subject to any stepdowns or caps, and there are no deductions applicable. The economic effective date for the acquisition was December 1, 2022.
* Detailed information on our interest can be found on the
Portfolio Asset Summary
table