Royal Gold Provides 2024 Guidance; Sees Total Sales Of Gold 215,000–230,000 Oz, Silver 3.2M–3.8M Oz, Copper 14M–16M Lb, Other Metals $17M–$20M, DD&A $141M–157M, Effective Tax Rate 17%–22%

Author: Benzinga Newsdesk | April 17, 2024 09:17am

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (together with its subsidiaries, "Royal Gold" or the "Company," "we" or "our") announced today its guidance for calendar year 2024 total stream and royalty sales volume, depletion, depreciation and amortization expense ("DD&A"), and effective tax rate, as well as an update on the recent repayment of outstanding borrowings.

2024 Guidance

Sales guidance for 2024 is provided on a sales volume basis to improve transparency and avoid the effect of volatile commodity prices in the conversion of revenue to gold equivalent ounces. Sales volume for stream agreements represents physical metal sold, and sales volume for royalty agreements represents royalty revenue received divided by the average metal price for the relevant period.

Royal Gold expects 2024 sales volume, DD&A and effective tax rate to be as follows:

	2024 Guidance January 1 – December 31, 2024
Total Sales:
Gold		215,000 – 230,000 oz
Silver		3.2 – 3.8 M oz
Copper		14.0 – 16.0 M lb
Other Metals		$17.0 – $20.0 M
DD&A		$141 – 157 M
Effective Tax Rate		17 – 22%

Gold, silver and copper are expected to provide the majority of 2024 revenue. Sales from Other Metals are expected to be relatively minor and the range provided assumes 2024 prices of $7.50/lb for nickel, $0.90/lb for lead, and $1.10/lb for zinc, which are the metals that are expected to provide most of this component of sales.

The sales guidance provided above equates to approximately 290,000 to 315,000 gold equivalent ounces1 ("GEOs") using metal prices of $1,950/oz for gold, $23.00/oz for silver and $3.80/lb for copper. However, when comparing actual performance to guidance during 2024, we will refer only to the sales volumes provided above and not to a GEO range.

The 2024 sales guidance is calculated based on a review of confidential information and production forecasts provided to Royal Gold from certain operating counterparties, and publicly available production forecasts for those interests where Royal Gold does not have rights to receive confidential information. Certain of these third-party forecasts have been adjusted by Royal Gold based on management's experience.

This guidance is based on the following key assumptions with respect to our Principal Properties2:

• Sales from Mount Milligan metal deliveries include a normal-course lag between production and stream deliveries of approximately 5 months, and higher 2024 Mount Milligan gold production guidance provided by Centerra Gold Inc. is not expected to impact Royal Gold sales until the second half of 2024;
• Continued deferral of silver deliveries and no material deliveries of the outstanding balance of deferred silver from the Pueblo Viejo mine in 2024; Barrick expects plant recovery optimization to progress after completing the ramp up of the expanded plant to full production levels;
• Gold production from the Legacy Zone (approximate 9.4% gross royalty rate) at Cortez is expected to be impacted by reduced oxide mill feed due to resource model changes, partially offset by a higher contribution from the new Goldrush mine within the Cortez Complex Zone ("CC Zone") (approximate 1.6% gross royalty rate);
• Higher silver, lead and zinc content delivered from the Chile Colorado pit and continued stripping of the Peñasco pit at Peñasquito;
• Lower tonnes milled at Andacollo due to water restrictions caused by extreme drought conditions, which is expected to affect sales throughout 2024 due to the normal-course lag between production and stream deliveries of approximately 5 months; and,
• Payable silver production of 1.2 to 1.4 million ounces at the Khoemacau mine.

The 2024 Effective Tax Rate guidance assumes no unusual or discrete tax items and no changes in laws or regulations or their interpretation in the jurisdictions where we pay taxes.

This guidance also assumes no new royalty or stream interest acquisitions during the remainder of 2024.

1 Gold equivalent ounces, or GEOs, is calculated by the Company as revenue (in total or by reportable segment) for a period divided by the average gold price for that same period.

2 As of December 31, 2023, we determined that six of our stream and royalty interests are material to our business: Andacollo, Cortez, Khoemacau, Mount Milligan, Peñasquito and Pueblo Viejo. Please see our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 15, 2024 (the "2023 Form 10-K") for additional information regarding our Principal Properties.

Repayment of Outstanding Borrowings

Royal Gold completed two recent repayments totaling $125 million on the Company's revolving credit facility:

• $100 million on March 6, 2024, from operating cash flow, and,
• $25 million on April 8, 2024, from the proceeds of the repayment by MMG Limited to Royal Gold of the $25 million subordinated debt facility upon the completion of the acquisition of Khoemacau Copper Mining, the owner of the Khoemacau mine. Including capitalized interest, the proceeds received from the repayment of this facility were approximately $37 million.

As of April 17, 2024, the amount outstanding on the $1 billion revolving credit facility is $125 million at an all-in borrowing rate of 6.5%.

Posted In: RGLD