Royal Gold Reports Results for Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2013

Royal Gold Reports Results for Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2013

• Record royalty revenue of $79.9 million, a 16% increase year-over-year

• Record Adjusted EBITDA¹of $73.4 million, an 18% increase year-over-year

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Royal Gold, Inc. (NAS: RGLD) (TSX:RGL) today announced net income attributable to Royal Gold stockholders of $27.2 million, or $0.42per basic share, on record royalty revenue of $79.9 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2013. This compares to net income attributable to Royal Gold stockholders of $23.4 million, or $0.42 per basic share, on royalty revenue of $68.8 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2012.

For the six-month period ended December 31, 2012, royalty revenue was $157.7 million and net income attributable to Royal Gold stockholders was $52.0 million, or $0.84 per basic share. This compares to royalty revenue of $133.3 million and net income attributable to Royal Gold stockholders of $45.9 million, or $0.83 per basic share, for the six-month period ended December 31, 2011.

Adjusted EBITDA¹ for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 was a record $73.4 million representing 92% of revenue, an increase of 18% compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $62.1 million or 90% of revenue for the prior year period. Cash flow from operations for the quarter was $10.9 million, or $0.17 per basic share compared with $29.3 million or $0.53 per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Cash flow from operations was negatively impacted by provisional income tax payments of $22.6 million normally due during the quarter, and the timing of a withholding tax payment of $17.2 million, which is expected to be recovered in future periods.

The 16% increase in revenue for the quarter was largely driven by increased production at Andacollo, Holt, Robinson, Mulatos, Las Cruces, Canadian Malartic and Wolverine, as well as the higher average price of gold and other metals. These increases were partially offset during the period by production declines at Voisey's Bay, Cortez, Leeville and Dolores. The average price of gold for the quarter was $1,722 per ounce compared with $1,688 per ounce for the comparable period, an increase of 2%.

As of December 31, 2012, the Company had a working capital surplus of $762.5 million. Current assets were $781.1 million (including $680.7 million in cash and equivalents), compared to current liabilities of $18.6 million, resulting in a current ratio of approximately 42 to 1. In addition to available working capital, the Company had $350 million available under its revolving line of credit.

Tony Jensen, President and CEO, commented, "Our broad and diverse portfolio of assets continues to provide strong financial results as demonstrated by our record quarterly royalty revenue and Adjusted EBITDA. During the quarter, the majority of our producing properties performed well and, in particular, Andacollo recorded record gold production. We were also pleased that Las Cruces reached its design capacity, and several other properties continued to make steady progress toward targeted production levels."

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Acquisition of Additional Royalty Option on the KSM Project

In December, the Company increased the net smelter return ("NSR") royalty option it may acquire on the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell ("KSM") project from 1.25% to 2.0%. The net cost to acquire the option was approximately $3.6 million. The Company now holds the right to purchase either a 1.25% NSR royalty for C$100 million, or a 2.0% NSR royalty for C$160 million on all of the gold and silver production from the project, payable in three equal installments over a 540-day period following exercise of its purchase right. The options to purchase the NSR royalty will remain exercisable for 60 days following Royal Gold's satisfaction that the project has received all material approvals and permits, has sufficient committed funding for construction, and certain other conditions have been met.

PROPERTY HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights at certain of the Company's principal producing and development properties during the quarter ended December 31, 2012 are listed below:

Producing Properties

Andacollo - Gold production increased during the quarter due to higher grade ore and improved recoveries. Teck continues to increase mill throughput rates as they de-bottleneck and optimize the plant.

Canadian Malartic - Osisko reported that fourth quarter gold production totaled 101,544 ounces with calendar 2012 output of 388,478 ounces. During the quarter, throughput was affected by a 6-day shutdown to complete the installation of the second pebble crusher and to make modifications to various conveying systems in the crushing and grinding circuits. Osisko also announced calendar 2013 gold production guidance of between 485,000 and 510,000 ounces.

Cortez - Barrick continued to prioritize production from their higher grade Cortez Hills operations that is not covered by our royalty interest. As a result, production decreased during the period.

Dolores - Pan American announced that calendar 2013 capital expenditures will include construction of a third leach pad, significant pre-stripping and the systematic rehabilitation of the mining fleet. Pan American also announced calendar 2013 production guidance of between 3.25 million to 3.45 million ounces of silver and between 63,500 to 68,000 ounces of gold.

Holt - St Andrew Goldfields reported production of 15,082 ounces of gold for the quarter with mill recoveries at 94%. The operator stated that construction of a new ore pass is complete and that it expects to see increased production capacity once commissioning is finalized in mid-January.

Las Cruces - Inmet announced that calendar 2012 copper production at Las Cruces increased by more than 60% to 67,700 tonnes from 42,100 tonnes in calendar 2011. The operator also announced calendar 2013 production guidance of between 68,500 to 72,000 tonnes of copper.

Leeville - A portion of the mine production at Leeville was derived from an area outside of our royalty interest resulting in a decrease in royalty revenue over the prior period.

Mulatos - Alamos reported record production of 67,800 ounces of gold during the fourth quarter achieving its production guidance for the year of 200,000 ounces of gold. Production for the quarter benefitted from higher than budgeted throughput and grade from the gravity mill in addition to record levels of quarterly crusher throughput that averaged 17,900 tonnes of ore per day.

Peñasquito -Goldcorp reported that water availability issues limited mill throughput rates. They plan to bring additional water wells into production within the Cedros Basin in addition to new dewatering wells within the Chile Colorado pit. The additional water wells in calendar 2013 are expected to increase mill throughput to 105,000 tonnes per day. A hydrology study is underway to develop a long-term water strategy and is expected to be completed during the first half of 2013. Goldcorp also announced calendar 2013 production guidance of between 360,000 to 400,000 ounces of gold and between 20 to 21 million ounces of silver.

Voisey's Bay - The variability in Vale's shipping schedule continues to result in uneven metal sales quarter-over-quarter. Copper sales for the quarter were lower than expected due to increased sales during the period ended September 30, 2012.

Wolverine -Yukon Zinc stated that production growth during the quarter was due to increased throughput, as they continue to ramp up to design capacity, with improved metallurgical performance and recoveries in the mill.

Development Properties

Mt. Milligan - Thompson Creek announced that they received notification from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans approving its fish habitat compensation plan, as required by Environment Canada's Metal Mining Effluent Regulations. This approval was the final step to authorize deposition of tailings material into the zero discharge tailings storage facility and the final authorization required to operate the Mt. Milligan mine. Thompson Creek also reiterated that the Mt. Milligan project remains on schedule with commercial production expected in the fourth quarter of calendar 2013.

Pascua-Lama - Barrick reported that construction management has been transferred to Fluor and that the project team has been significantly strengthened. As disclosed with its third quarter 2012 financial results, Barrick indicated it expected initial gold production in the second half of 2014, and that the definitive estimate of costs and schedule for the project would be complete by the time of its 2012 year-end results in mid-February.

Additional Property Information

Second quarter fiscal 2013 production and revenue for the Company's principal interests are shown in Table 1 and historical production data is shown in Table 2. For more detailed information about each of our principal interests, please refer to the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC and available on the SEC's website located at www.sec.gov, or our website located at www.royalgold.com.

CORPORATE PROFILE

Royal Gold is a precious metals royalty company engaged in the acquisition and management of precious metals royalties and similar interests. The Company owns interests on 205 properties on six continents, including interests on 39 producing mines and 28 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.

Note: Management's conference call reviewing the second quarter results will be held todayat 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time (noon Eastern Time) and will be available by calling (800) 603-2779 (North America) or (973) 200-3960(international), access #85826820. The call will be simultaneously broadcast on the Company's website at www.royalgold.com under the "Presentations" section. A replay of this webcast will be available on the Company's website approximately two hours after the call ends.

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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 statements about the Company's assets continuing to deliver strong financial results; further production increases at Andacollo, Peñasquito, Canadian Malartic, Holt, and Wolverine; and the operators' expectation of production, construction, ramp up, reaching design capacity, throughput, water availability and other developments at various mines. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections include, among others, precious metals, copper and nickel prices; performance of and production at the Company's royalty properties; decisions and activities of the operators of the Company's various properties; unanticipated grade, geological, metallurgical, processing or other problems the operators of the mining properties may encounter; delays in the operators securing or their inability to secure necessary governmental permits; changes in operator's project parameters as plans continue to be refined; economic and market conditions; the ability of the various operators to bring projects into production as expected; 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.