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Royal Gold Reports Record Results for Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2011

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSX:RGL) today announced record net income attributable to Royal Gold stockholders of $71.4 million, or $1.29 per basic share, on record royalty revenue of $216.5 million for fiscal 2011 (ended June 30). This compares to net income attributable to Royal Gold stockholders for fiscal 2010 of $21.5 million, or $0.49 per basic share, on royalty revenue of $136.6 million. Net income available to Royal Gold stockholders for fiscal 2010 was impacted by pre-tax effects of severance and acquisition costs of approximately $19.4 million, related to the Company’s acquisition of International Royalty Corporation (“IRC”). Excluding the after tax effect of these items, net income available to Royal Gold stockholders would have been $35.8 million, or $0.82 per basic share for fiscal 2010.

For the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2011, net income attributable to Royal Gold stockholders was $21.7 million, or $0.39 per basic share, on record royalty revenue of $59.3 million. This compares to net income attributable to Royal Gold stockholders of $10.5 million, or $0.21 per basic share, on royalty revenue of $40.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

Free cash flow1 for fiscal 2011 was $190.2 million ($3.45 per basic share), representing 88% of revenue. This compares to free cash flow for fiscal 2010 of $100.1 million ($2.29 per basic share), or 73% of revenue. Free cash flow as a percentage of revenue for fiscal 2010 was negatively impacted due to $19.4 million of costs relating to the acquisition of IRC. Before IRC related costs, free cash flow for fiscal 2010 was 87% of revenue.

Free cash flow for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 was $51.6 million ($0.94 per basic share), or 87% of revenue, compared to free cash flow of $35.1 million ($0.78 per basic share), or 86% of revenue, for the prior year period.

The 59% increase in revenue for fiscal 2011 was largely driven by production increases at Andacollo, Peñasquito, and Voisey’s Bay, and higher average gold and other metal prices. The average price of gold in fiscal 2011 was $1,369 per ounce compared with $1,089 per ounce in fiscal 2010, representing a 26% increase.

As of June 30, 2011, the Company had a working capital surplus of $140.4 million. Current assets were $169.3 million (including $114.2 million in cash and equivalents), compared to current liabilities of $28.9 million, resulting in a current ratio of 6 to 1. Total debt outstanding under the Company’s credit facilities was $ 226.1 million as of June 30, 2011.

Tony Jensen, President and CEO, commented, “Fiscal 2011 was an outstanding year for Royal Gold as we marked our tenth straight year of revenue and free cash flow growth. Our cornerstone properties provided substantial revenue as the Peñasquito and Andacollo properties reached commercial production and the Voisey’s Bay labor dispute was resolved. We completed three significant transactions during the fiscal year. The first two consisted of increasing our royalty interest on the Pascua-Lama project, and acquiring a gold stream from the Mt. Milligan project. We expect that both of these additions will have a significant impact on our long-term revenue profile. The third transaction consisted of acquiring an option on the KSM project, which, if exercised, would add an additional long-life royalty to our portfolio. Also, during the second half of the year, we saw initial contributions from the Canadian Malartic, Holt and Wolverine mines, positioning us well for both near and long-term revenue growth.”

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Signing of Option Agreement to Acquire Royalty on the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (“KSM”) Project

In June, 2011, Royal Gold acquired an option to purchase a 1.25% net smelter return (“NSR”) royalty on all of the gold and silver production from the KSM project in northwest British Columbia. As part of the transaction, the Company purchased 1,019,000 shares of Seabridge common stock for C$30 million (US$30.7 million), which represents a 15.0% premium to the volume weighted average trading price of Seabridge common shares on the TSX for the five trading-day period ending two days prior to the public announcement on June 14, 2011. Royal Gold may acquire the NSR royalty by holding the shares for a minimum of nine months and paying C$100 million.

Under the agreement, Royal Gold may increase the royalty to a 2.0% NSR by purchasing, within 18 months of the first share purchase, an additional C$18.0 million in Seabridge common shares, at a 15% premium to the then market price, holding the additional Seabridge shares for a minimum of nine months, and paying an additional consideration of C$60 million.

Final Court Ruling on Holt Royalty Obligation

In May 2011, the Ontario Appeals Court upheld the trial court’s July 2009 decision clarifying the royalty obligations on production from the Holt mining project in Ontario, Canada. The Court held that Royal Gold is entitled to payment from Newmont Canada of the full amount of the sliding-scale royalty.

PROPERTY HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights at certain of the Company’s principal producing and development properties during the quarter ended June 30, 2011 are listed below:

Andacollo – Teck reported that concentrator throughput was approximately 39,000 tonnes per day compared with designed capacity of 55,000 tonnes per day. Planned improvements to increase throughput to design capacity over the next three quarters include installation of a small crusher to feed coarse ore to the pebble crusher, increases in the SAG motor capacity and installation of a 20,000 tonne per day crusher plant. In addition, Teck is conducting an expansion study to examine the feasibility of increasing annual production from 80,000 tonnes to approximately 100,000 to 120,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate. The study is expected to be complete by the end of the fourth quarter of calendar 2011.

Voisey’s Bay – Vale provided a Long Harbour Project update in June. The Long Harbour Project is a hydrometallurgical facility under construction in Newfoundland and Labrador to treat Voisey’s Bay ore. They estimate that the plant will be completed in early calendar 2013.

Peñasquito – Goldcorp reported that higher grades and recoveries of gold, silver, lead and zinc were offset by lower processing rates due to lower than forecast pebble feed to the high pressure grinding roll circuit, and slower than expected progress on the raising of the tailings dam embankment. Goldcorp expects these issues to be resolved by the end of the calendar year. They also reported that oxide gold production will be delayed in the second half of the year due to restricted cyanide deliveries resulting from supplier shortages. Gold production for calendar 2011 is now estimated to be 250,000 ounces compared to the operator’s earlier guidance of 350,000 ounces.

Robinson – Quadra reported that the removal of mud from the bottom of the Ruth Pit has been completed and the secondary access ramp remains on track for completion in August. They reiterated that production is expected to increase in the second half of calendar 2011 due to access to higher grade material at the bottom of the pit and additional haulage capacity. Quadra also announced that they have reduced their 2011 annual guidance for gold production to 25,000 to 30,000 ounces from 45,000 to 50,000 ounces due to lower grades and recoveries in the first half of the year.

Mulatos In May 2011, Alamos lowered their production guidance to between 145,000 and 160,000 ounces of gold from 160,000 and 175,000 ounces of gold due to lower than budgeted crusher throughput. Although second quarter production was impacted by extreme drought conditions and cyanide supplier issues, Alamos stated that they expect to recover the deferred production throughout the remainder of calendar 2011. They reported that crusher throughput improved, resulting in a quarterly average of about 15,000 tonnes per day and they expect to meet this throughput rate for the remainder of calendar 2011. Alamos also reported that construction is underway on a high-grade mill that could boost output by another 60,000 ounces per year. Production from this new gravity mill is expected to commence in 2012.

Dolores Minefinders reported record quarterly production of approximately 21,000 ounces of gold and 1.1 million ounces of silver, increases of 6% and 23%, respectively, over the previous quarter. They continued to sustain improved leach results on the Stage 2 pad and are realizing the benefits of higher average grades and mining practice improvements resulting in decreased dilution.

Canadian Malartic – Osisko announced that they reached commercial production on May 19 and said that production ramp up is progressing on a steady basis with an average throughput of approximately 38,913 tonnes, as of mid June. They also announced that their operating focus for the next six months will be to achieve full design capacity of 55,000 tonnes per day and optimize mine performance.

Holt – St Andrew Goldfields reported that development of the Holt Mine progressed slower than anticipated which was coupled with lower than expected ore grades. For the remainder of calendar 2011, ramp, footwall access, stope development and long-hole mining will be their primary focus. St. Andrew Goldfields reduced its production guidance at Holt to between 24,000 to 28,000 ounces from 45,000 to 50,000 ounces. They expect between 13,000 to 17,000 ounces of production during the second half of calendar 2011.

Mt. Milligan – Thompson Creek announced that the development of the mine and the construction of the processing plant are proceeding in accordance with the planned schedule. Project engineering, design and procurement are more than half complete, construction of the camp is complete, and the key dam structure for water retention is in place. Spending through June 30, 2011 is 16% ($207.7 million) of the estimated C$1.3 billion project total, and Thompson Creek stated that the project is on schedule for completion in the fourth quarter of calendar 2013.

Pascua-Lama – Barrick reported that projected capital costs for Pascua-Lama have increased from $3.3 - $3.6 billion to $4.7 - $5.0 billion. They also reported that expected annual gold production has increased from 775,000 ounces to 800,000 - 850,000 ounces in the first full five years of operation.

Full-year and fourth quarter fiscal 2011 production and revenue for the Company’s principal royalty interests are shown in Tables 1 and 2. For more detailed information about each of our principal royalty properties, 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 metal royalty and similar production based interests. The Company owns royalties on 184 properties on six continents, including royalties on 36 producing mines and 21 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 fourth quarter and year-end results will be held today at 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 #37272734. 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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