NASDAQ:RGLD Royal Gold Q3 2026 Earnings Results & Report $255.69 +9.61 (+3.91%) As of 01:15 PM Eastern This is a fair market value price provided by Massive. Learn more. Royal Gold beat analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue in its Q3 2026 results, released November 4, 2026. The company reported EPS of $2.80 versus the $2.77 consensus estimate, while revenue of $464.77 million topped the $459.84 million estimate by $4.93 million. Revenue increased 84.4% year over year. Research:ProfileEarnings HistoryForecast Earnings Announcement Details QuarterQ3 2026Report DateNovember 4, 2026TimeAfter Market ClosesConference Call DateNovember 5, 2026Conference Call12:00 PM ET Royal Gold EPS ResultsActual EPS$2.80Consensus EPS $2.77Beat/MissBeat by +$0.03One Year Ago EPS$2.06EPS Beat Rate6 of last 8 quartersRoyal Gold Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$464.77 millionExpected Revenue$459.84 millionBeat/MissBeat by +$4.93 millionYoY Revenue Growth+84.40%Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfilePowered by Royal Gold Q3 2026 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrNovember 5, 2026ShareShareShare This ReportLink copied to clipboard.Key Takeaways Positive Sentiment: Royal Gold reported record quarterly revenue of $465 million, sales volume of 109,000 GEOs, and operating cash flow of $344 million; adjusted net income also reached a record $238 million. Results benefited from higher metal prices and contributions from acquired and newer interests. Positive Sentiment: The company repaid its remaining revolver balance after quarter-end and is now debt-free, with its $1.4 billion revolver available. Management said its capital-allocation priorities remain pursuing new transactions first, while continuing dividends and considering liquidity needs before buybacks. Positive Sentiment: Royal Gold raised its full-year guidance for other metals and expects silver and copper sales at or above the top of their ranges; gold sales remain on track near the midpoint of original guidance. Positive Sentiment: Management cited organic growth potential across assets including Greenstone, Red Chris, Platreef, and Fruta del Norte. Kinross also plans to exercise its Great Bear royalty buyback right for about $43 million, reducing Royal Gold’s interest to a 1.5% royalty. Negative Sentiment: Operations brought some near-term uncertainty: Antamina suspended production after a fatality, Andacollo’s 2026 copper production outlook moved to the low end of guidance, and Kansanshi narrowed its copper production range. AI Generated. May Contain Errors.Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallRoyal Gold Q3 202600:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xThere are 10 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Royal Gold Inc. 2026 third quarter conference call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Alistair Baker, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development. Alistair, please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:35Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to our discussion of Royal Gold's third quarter 2026 results. This event is being webcast live, and a replay of this call will be available on our website. Speaking on the call today are Bill Heissenbuttel, President and CEO, Paul Libner, Senior Vice President and CFO, and Martin Raffield, Senior Vice President of Operations. Other members of the management team are also available for questions. During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements, including statements about our projections and expectations for the future. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in yesterday's press release and our filings with the SEC. We will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted net income, adjusted net income per share, adjusted EBITDA, and cash G&A. Speaker 100:01:28Reconciliations of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are available in yesterday's press release, which can be found on our website. Bill will start with an overview of the third quarter, Martin will provide portfolio commentary, and Paul will give a financial update. After our prepared remarks, we'll open the line for questions. I'll now turn the call over to Bill. Speaker 200:01:49Good morning, and thank you for joining the call. I'll begin on slide four. Our strong third quarter results extended the positive momentum from the first half of the year. Revenue for the quarter was $465 million on record volume of 109,000 GEOs, and operating cash flow was $344 million, a record for the third consecutive quarter. Net income was $227 million, and adjusted net income was a record $238 million, or $2.80 per share. We remain a gold-focused business, with gold contributing 73% of total revenue for the quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 84% for the quarter, reflecting our low cash G&A. We paid $40 million of dividends during the quarter at our annual dividend rate of $1.90 per share, which is 6% higher than last year. Speaker 200:02:44We were active on our share buyback program, repurchasing and canceling 190,000 shares for $49 million. We also repaid $250 million on the revolver during the quarter, and the remaining $150 million balance in October. It is remarkable how much cash flow our large and diversified portfolio generates. In the year since we closed the Sandstorm Horizon transaction, we have repaid more than $1.2 billion of debt, paid out $121 million of dividends, repurchased $79 million of shares, and funded $50 million for the Warintza project. I am very pleased with these results. We are now debt-free, our full $1.4 billion revolver is undrawn and available, and we have strong cash flow to redeploy in an active market for business development. I'll now turn the call over to Martin to discuss portfolio performance in the quarter. Speaker 300:03:43Thanks, Bill. Turning to slide five, the portfolio delivered another strong quarter with record sales volume of 109,000 GEOs. Stream revenue was $318 million, up 92% from the prior year quarter. We saw materially higher revenue from Andacollo, Mount Milligan, Pueblo Viejo, Xavantina, and Khoemacau. We also had strong contributions from Kansanshi and new streams at Greenstone, Bonikro, and Chapada, and an initial contribution from Platreef. Royalty revenue was $146 million, up 70% from the prior year quarter. We saw large increases from the Cortez Legacy Zone and Peñasquito, as well as strong contributions from our new interests at Antamina, Fruta del Norte, Caserones, Houndé, and Orizona. Turning to slide six, I'll comment briefly on our full-year guidance. Speaker 300:04:40Based on strong year-to-date sales, we have raised our full-year guidance for other metals, and we expect to be at or above the top end of the guidance ranges for silver and copper sales. Gold sales remain on track around the midpoint of our original guidance range. I'll now turn to slide seven and highlight some notable developments across the portfolio. At Mount Milligan, Centerra reconfirmed that gold and copper production is on track to meet full-year guidance. At Andacollo, Teck reported that production improved through the quarter as operations recovered from earlier weather events, and plant throughput increased in September and returned to full production by month end. Teck now expects 2026 copper production to be at the low end of the 45,000-55,000 ton guidance range. Speaker 300:05:29At Kansanshi, First Quantum reported third quarter copper production of 46,000 tons, slightly higher than the previous quarter due to improved throughput. The new S3 concentrator throughput was sustained above design capacity due to higher operating time, strong utilization, and improved milling rates. First Quantum narrowed the 2026 copper production guidance to 175,000-185,000 tons from the previous 175,000-205,000 tons, which implies gold deliveries under the stream of 29,000-31,000 ounces for 2026. At Cortez, production from the legacy zone ramped up significantly in the third quarter. Our overlapping royalties in this zone create an approximate 9% gross royalty rate. Overall, our blended royalty rate for the quarter was 4.45%, and year to date was 3.85%, compared to our guidance of 3.5%-4% for the full year. This is consistent with expectations that production from the Crossroads deposit would increase during the year. Speaker 300:06:38Barrick and Newmont also resolved their dispute over the Four Mile project, which should allow the project to be optimized within the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture. We expect this to have a positive impact on our royalty, which covers the entirety of the Four Mile project. At Xavantina, Ero provided total 2026 gold production guidance of between 75,000-80,000 ounces, including 30,000-35,000 ounces of mine production. Based on Ero's results to date, this implies total production from mining and stockpiles of approximately 22,000-27,000 ounces in the fourth quarter. At Antamina, production was suspended on October 27th due to a fatality and to allow for investigations by the relevant authorities. Several operators also provided updates that highlight the organic growth potential within our portfolio. At Greenstone, Equinox reported that the first major exploration program since 2020 is underway. Speaker 300:07:40The program is aimed at converting higher-grade underground and satellite mineral resources, extending the mine life, and optimizing throughput beyond the current nameplate capacity of 27,000 tons per day. At Côté, IAMGOLD is aiming to complete an updated mine plan and reserve estimate by the end of this year. The update is expected to show a significant expansion of mineral reserves and mine life, and to outline opportunities to progressively increase plant throughput to a sustained rate of approximately 40,000 tons per day. At Red Chris, Newmont outlined the parameters of the Block Cave project, which is targeted for an investment decision by early 2027. Newmont expects an initial phase one mine life of 13 years, and production to ramp up to an annual average of 275,000-325,000 ounces of gold and 65,000-85,000 tons of copper between 2035 and 2040. Speaker 300:08:42Newmont also expects subsequent phase development with a potential mine life of up to 70 years. At Fruta del Norte, Lundin Gold reported that near-mine exploration continues to deliver exceptional results at FDN South, FDN East, and Bonza Sur. Lundin Gold noted that the potential of these deposits provides increasing confidence in sustaining production at current levels over the longer term. At Chapada, Lundin Mining expects to complete an updated technical report for the Chapada mine and Saúva project by year-end. Permitting for Saúva is continuing alongside further design and engineering work. At Platreef, the phase one concentrator operated at 70% of design in October, and Ivanhoe expects mining and milling rates to improve further as identified bottlenecks have been resolved. Ivanhoe also reported that construction of the phase two concentrator is on schedule for completion by the end of 2027. Speaker 300:09:44At Great Bear, Kinross reported that the advanced exploration surface construction is now substantially complete. The north and south declines continue to advance. Detailed engineering is over 55% complete for the main project, and permitting is progressing. Kinross has advised that they intend to buy back 25% of our royalty in the fourth quarter, which would reduce our interest to a 1.5% NSR in return for approximately $43 million in cash. Recall that we granted Kinross this option in return for information that de-risked the royalty purchase, and the buyback demonstrates the significant value of the Great Bear project. At MARA, Glencore reported that the Alumbrera restart is underway and that the project received approval under Argentina's RIGI investment incentive regime in early October. Our interest at MARA does not cover Alumbrera, but Glencore views the Alumbrera restart as an important step in de-risking the development of MARA. Speaker 300:10:48Finally, at Hod Maden, Lidya continues to advance the project, which is now about 30% complete. I will now turn the call over to Paul. Speaker 400:10:58Thanks, Martin. I will turn to slide eight and give an overview of the financial results for the quarter. On slides eight and nine, I will be comparing the third quarter of 2026 to the prior year quarter. Revenue for the quarter increased 84% to $465 million. The increase was driven by higher metal prices, new contributions from Kansanshi and the Sandstorm Horizon portfolio, and higher sales from Andacollo, Mount Milligan, Pueblo Viejo, and Xavantina. These increases were partially offset by lower sales from Rainy River. Metal prices were significantly higher, with gold up 23%, silver up 59%, and copper up 44%. Gold remains our dominant revenue driver at 73% of total revenue, with silver at 14% and copper at 10%. Turning to slide nine, I will provide more detail on some key line items for the quarter. Speaker 400:11:51G&A expense was $13.2 million, up approximately $3 million from the prior year. The increase was mostly due to higher office and employee-related costs, which included non-cash stock compensation expense. We continue to expect our total G&A expense for the year will finish near the upper end of the $50 million-$60 million range we provided during our February conference call. D&A expense increased $82 million from $33 million in the prior year. On a unit basis, D&A was $752 per GEO, compared to $451 per GEO last year. The increase was mainly due to higher carrying values of the Constancia gold stream and the Sandstorm Horizon interest we acquired in 2025. D&A is in line with our expectations, and we expect to finish the year within our original guidance range of $339 million-$379 million. Speaker 400:12:44The fair value loss on equity securities was $16 million for the quarter, primarily due to a decrease in the value of the Entrée Resources shares we acquired in the Sandstorm Horizon transaction. Interest and other expense decreased to $5 million from $9 million, primarily due to lower average borrowings under our revolving credit facility. Tax expense for the quarter was $58 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of 20.2%. Before discrete items, our year-to-date effective tax rate is 20.1%, and we continue to expect the full-year rate to be within the original guidance range of 17%-22%. Net income for the quarter was $227 million, or $2.68 per share, compared to $127 million, or $1.92 per share in the prior year. Speaker 400:13:32The increase was largely driven by higher revenue and lower acquisition-related costs that were part of the Sandstorm Horizon transaction in the prior year. These items were partially offset by higher cost of sales, depletion expense, fair value losses on equity securities, and income tax expense. Excluding fair value changes in equity securities, adjusted net income was a record $238 million, or $2.80 per share. Finally, operating cash flow for the quarter was a record $344 million, up 98% from $174 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily due to higher stream and royalty revenue and lower acquisition-related costs and interest payments, partially offset by higher income tax expense. I want to end on slide 10 and summarize our financial position. Speaker 400:14:21Our increase and record cash flows have allowed us to quickly pay down debt, further repurchase shares, and rebuild our liquidity. At the end of September, we had total available liquidity of $1.5 billion, made up of $1.25 billion available under our revolver and $226 million of working capital. After quarter end, on October 19th, we repaid the remaining $150 million on our revolver, and we are now debt-free. Adding to our liquidity, after quarter end, we received the second tranche of gold from Centerra as part of the deferred gold consideration for the Mount Milligan Cost Support Agreement. We sold these ounces upon receipt for proceeds of approximately $46 million, and you will see the impact in our fourth quarter results. Speaker 400:15:04As a reminder, these proceeds will not be treated as revenue or included in our GEOs, but they will be included in our operating cash flow. After quarter end, we also finalized the details to make the final $50 million advance payment to Solaris for the Warintza stream and royalty. Solaris will submit the documentation to register our security, and we expect to make the payment shortly. Our only other remaining commitment is our 15% share of Hod Maden project costs. As a reminder, we funded $70 million during the second quarter, and assuming no changes to the project timeline or scope and no debt financing, we expect to start contributing our share of spending in mid-2027 on a pro rata basis with Lidya. Speaker 400:15:46That concludes my comments on our financial performance for the quarter, and I will now turn the call back to Bill for closing comments. Speaker 200:15:52Thanks, Paul. I'll close with three points. First, our cash flow has never been stronger. Our large and diversified portfolio delivered record operating cash flow for the third consecutive quarter, and we again had only two assets contributing more than 10% of revenue. This diversification reduces event risk at any one asset and makes our portfolio one of the best in terms of reducing exposure to mine site events. Our portfolio remains the most gold-focused in our industry, and we continue to earn over 75% of our revenue from countries in the Western Hemisphere. Second, we have significant organic growth embedded in the portfolio. Speaker 200:16:32You heard it in Martin's update, potential to convert resources and extend mine life at Greenstone, a phased Block Cave at Red Chris that could extend the mine life up to 70 years, the RIGI application approval for MARA, the phase II expansion at Platreef, and sufficient progress at Great Bear has prompted Kinross to exercise its royalty buyback right. With the exception of the MARA option payment, all of this growth is already paid for, and our operators are advancing it today. Third, our capital allocation record speaks for itself. We have increased our dividend for 25 consecutive years, and we are the only precious metals company in the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index. In the year since we closed the Sandstorm Horizon transaction, we have returned $200 million to shareholders and repaid more than $1.2 billion of debt. Today, we are debt-free. Speaker 200:17:27With our full $1.4 billion revolver available and an uncommitted accordion feature that could increase it to $2 billion, we are well-positioned to compete for new business, and we will bring that same discipline to every opportunity. We are in a strong position, and I'm confident the market will recognize the value of what we have built, a sustainable and high-margin business with strong cash flow from a diversified portfolio, embedded organic growth from numerous assets, and a long record of disciplined capital allocation. Operator, that concludes our prepared remarks. Please open the line for questions. Operator00:18:04We will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Daniel Major with UBS. Correction. Your first question comes from the line of Cosmos Chiu with CIBC. Cosmos, your line is now open. Speaker 500:18:46Thanks. Hi, Bill and team. Thanks for the very thorough presentation. My first question is to highlight, good to see that MARA has received their RIGI permit, and I think earlier than what I had expected and potentially earlier than what you had expected as well. I guess maybe to confirm that, has it exceeded your expectations in terms of MARA? Taking a step back, looking at the entire Sandstorm portfolio, how has it performed? Has there been more positive surprises versus negative surprises? To you, how has it performed since you have acquired that portfolio? Speaker 200:19:30Cosmos, thanks for the question. I think the Sandstorm portfolio has been an absolute success, and you talk about pluses and minuses. I only see pluses. If you just go back to what did we cite when we announced the acquisition? Well, it was about growth, and it was about Platreef, it was about MARA and Hod Maden. Just walk through each one of those. Platreef was under construction, it has made its first delivery. MARA did not have a timeline, and now we have a timeline, we have a RIGI application approval. They have started the mining of the Alumbrera pit earlier than we thought. That has moved, advanced quicker than I think we really thought. Hod Maden, at the time, we did not even have a technical report, let alone a setup in terms of ownership that would allow for the construction of the project. That project is under construction. Speaker 200:20:24All those three key assets that we identified have all advanced and probably advanced faster than we thought. That actually ignores a lot of the great things going on within the producing assets that we purchased. Antamina, almost $40 million in revenue in nine months. Fruta del Norte seems to be getting better and better. You have got upside at Chapada, Caserones. I am really pleased with how that portfolio has performed. Speaker 500:20:56It is great to hear. Bill, maybe talking about this past quarter, as you or Paul mentioned, the majority is coming from precious metals, but you do have about 10% coming from copper, and copper prices have been fairly strong year to date. Are you comfortable with that 10%? Is it too high or is it too low? How should we view that 10% within your portfolio? Speaker 200:21:23Yeah, Cosmos, I think we've been pretty consistent. We're focused on precious metals. We're focused on gold. I don't look at copper as being too high or too low. We like copper. If we find other opportunities in copper that we think are attractive, we may well make those investments. It'll never really, in my mind, be core to what we do. As I always say, when our team is marketing, we're marketing for precious metal opportunities. The copper opportunities we see are ones that typically come in to us, and we look at it, we like it, just like Cactus is an example. So, 10% is just a number. I'm not looking to reduce it, but I'm not also looking strategically to increase it. Speaker 500:22:13Mm-hmm. Of course. Maybe one last question. If I were to look back at the history of Royal Gold, or even now, a large part of your heritage is connected to Barrick, be it Cortez or near-term Pueblo Viejo. As Martin mentioned, there's also Barrick in terms of more clarity at Four Mile that has helped. As we all know, Barrick right now might be looking at an IPO of Barrick North America. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but Bill, would an IPO help in any way, indirectly, in terms of what's happening within your portfolio beyond Four Mile? Speaker 200:22:59Yeah, Cosmos, I think it would. The reason I say that is, when you're running a bigger company with a portfolio of mines, there's so many things that you have to focus on. If we can have Nevada Gold Mines and Pueblo Viejo in, what I'll call, a smaller company in terms of assets, you're not competing for capital with Pakistan or Africa. Maybe the management team has more time to focus on the issues on a fewer number of assets, as opposed to trying to address issues across a broader portfolio. So I'm hopeful that it is, I would say, marginally positive for our interests. Speaker 500:23:41Great. Thanks, Bill. That's good to hear. Those are all the questions I have. Thanks for answering all my questions. Thank you. Speaker 200:23:48Thanks, Cosmos. Operator00:23:50Your next question comes from the line of Derek Ma with TD Cowen. Derek, your line is now open. Speaker 600:23:58Thank you. My question's on Cortez. There are a lot of moving pieces there. I know you haven't put out guidance yet, but directionally, how should we be thinking about Cortez going forward when we look into 2027 and beyond, and how that would compare, I guess, to your 2026 average royalty rate of 3.5%-4%? Speaker 200:24:17Yeah, Derek, I might turn that over to Martin, but before I do, we're not going to get too specific about what we expect in 2027 or going forward. But Martin, maybe you can just talk about where the ounces are now coming from, and if there's anything that you can add maybe towards the end of this year directionally, that would be helpful. Speaker 300:24:38Yeah, I think directionally, Derek, we're looking at a good year for Cortez next year. I say that because as you will see from results in Q2 and probably coming up in Q3, there is more focus at the moment on our legacy zone as they get down towards the bottom of the crossroads pit. We expect that to continue through at least some of next year. So we see good results coming from Cortez next year. Speaker 600:25:15Okay, great. I have one more question on Mount Milligan. Very strong deliveries from Mount Milligan in Q3. Previously, you have talked about a six-month delay, I guess, from production to sales. Given Q2 and Q3 were particularly strong production quarters at Mount Milligan, is the expectation that Q4 deliveries will be even stronger than Q3 to Royal Gold's account, or is it more nuanced in terms of the delivery schedule and the delay from production to sales? Speaker 200:25:44Yeah, it is a little nuanced because the way the deliveries, we have a pretty good idea. I mean, what we are going to get in the fourth quarter is sort of what they produced in the second quarter. The nuance is that you get a shipment that is a little bit later or a little bit earlier than you think, and the way we sell that metal is very much based on when we think the next delivery is coming in. So, if you got a late delivery and that delivery got sold in early 2027 there, that is the only place that there is a bit of nuance. But Martin, I will turn it back to you again and just say, is there anything else that I am missing in that description? Speaker 300:26:25No, I don't think you are missing anything there, Bill. It is very heavily related to shipment timing and deliveries of ships into ports and payments from that. So, I think you are right there. Speaker 600:26:37Okay. Thank you. Maybe a strong Q4, but don't take exactly Q2. All right. Thank you. Speaker 200:26:45Thanks, Derek. Operator00:26:48A reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Your next question comes from the line of Daniel Major with UBS. Daniel, your line is now open. Speaker 700:27:06Hi, guys. Thanks so much. Not sure what happened just before, but thanks for the questions. Yeah, first one, just thinking into next year, you've obviously given us some color on the buyback from Kinross. Is there any others in the portfolio we should be mindful of in the near term in terms of, yeah, potential buybacks into next year? Speaker 200:27:36Daniel, nothing comes to mind in terms of actual buybacks that operators may have rights to. Speaker 700:27:50Okay. Thanks. I guess second question, just on the deal pipeline. Obviously, we've seen valuations come in a bit. Has that changed the discussions in terms of the processes that you're having, is first question. Then three regional questions on the pipeline. One, is Australia an area that you're seeing additional interest? I know there's been a few deals done that seems to be igniting some more interest in Australia, is the first question. The second is Argentina. I know First Quantum is keeping streaming as an option for funding for Taca Taca. Any discussions there? Then the third one, specifically, there seems to have been some talk in the market about Bingham Canyon. Can you make any comment there? Speaker 200:28:46Yeah, we don't make comments on specific opportunities. Generally speaking, if I understood the first part of your comment, prices coming in, prices getting closer to consensus sure makes a valuation discussion a lot easier. When gold was 5,400 and the long-term price was 3,500 or whatever it was, then that kind of gap really poses a bit of an issue trying to negotiate. So, the prices coming in actually, I think, helps discussions a little bit. Again, coming back to your point on geographies, I would say there are two things that have happened in our sector that I think are positive for our industry. Number one, you saw a very large transaction done by a very large company, and that, we always say, it only takes one to get others prompted to at least look at streaming. So, I think that was positive. Speaker 200:29:43You've seen a number of transactions in Australia. The Australians had never previously wanted to consider streaming. Again, it only takes one, and now we have, I would say, a couple examples where Australian companies did use streaming. Again, I think that opens the door a bit to new opportunities. Speaker 700:30:07Okay. Just to push you there, I mean, Argentina, broadly, from a risk standpoint, would you be comfortable if the opportunities arose in Argentina, whatever the project might be? Speaker 200:30:23Yeah, I mean, I think the whole RIGI application thing at MARA has been positive. The thing you just always have to keep in mind is that when we make investments, I mean, they go on for decades, and you're going to have political change. I would say Argentina is a very favorable location, I think, from my perspective right now, but we're always going to be cautious. I'd say we're open to the country, absolutely. Speaker 700:30:54Great. Thanks a lot. Speaker 200:30:57Thank you. Operator00:30:59Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. Our next question comes from the line of Sam Overwater with Scotiabank. Sam, your line is now open. Speaker 800:31:14Hi. Good afternoon, Bill and team. Thank you for taking my questions. Also, congratulations on being debt-free. Starting off with capital allocation, now that the credit facility is paid off, can you touch on your capital allocation priorities in terms of managing new transactions, dividends, buybacks, and where you see any changes in these priorities in the next few months? Speaker 200:31:40I do not see any change in priorities. I mean, priority one from my perspective is finding new business opportunities. To me, that is the best way to add value. It is the best way in terms of duration, in terms of growth. It is just very important to keep that pipeline filled. I would say that is number one. With respect to our dividend, I think everybody knows that our board reviews our dividend every November, and that would be the case this year as well. Just in terms of share buybacks, the one comment I would make is, with the increase in interest rates that we have seen, it may be beneficial for us to build a bit of liquidity so if and when we find the investments that we like, we are not as dependent on drawing down on debt, and we have that cash available on our balance sheet. Speaker 200:32:35That to me is, that is the order of priorities. The new business opportunities I think will always be first. Speaker 800:32:44Great. Thanks for the color on that. Moving into the transaction environment, Daniel asked about Australia and Argentina. More specifically in terms of sizing, type, and commodity. Last time we discussed it was between $200 million and $500 million, were some larger transactions floating around, and across a pretty diverse type of asset thoughts, projects, as well as main focus on gold. Are these objectives the same or has maybe the lens shifted a little bit? More specifically, are there jurisdictions that Royal has found themselves most interested in? Speaker 200:33:29Well, what I might do there is hand that over to Dan Breeze, a bit to give you a sense for what we're seeing. Speaker 900:33:40Yeah, happy to, Bill. Hi, Sam, and thanks for the question. I think the way you described it still holds very much right now. I think we're pretty pleased with our pipeline. We're very busy right now across really across a number of opportunities. We're always looking at these third-party royalty packages and new royalties, and of course, the bread and butter of our industry, which is streams for project development. That's probably the bulk of it right now. Bill mentioned about Australia. We're seeing opportunities there. That market certainly has embraced our products. So we're feeling pretty good about the environment right now. Again, I think the sizing that you described is representative. Speaker 800:34:27Amazing. That's great to hear. Just one last quick question just on cash flows. Timing of the Great Bear repurchase is Q4. Can we expect that $43 million along with Q4? Speaker 200:34:41Will we expect it to come in in Q4? Is that your question? Speaker 800:34:46Yeah, then can we expect the inflows at that time as well? Speaker 200:34:50We are expecting it this quarter. Speaker 800:34:54This quarter? Okay, great. Thank you. Speaker 200:34:58Thanks for the questions. Operator00:35:01There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Bill Heissenbuttel for closing remarks. Speaker 200:35:10Well, everyone, thank you for taking the time to join us today. We certainly appreciate your interest in Royal Gold, and we look forward to updating you on our progress during our next quarterly call. Take care. Operator00:35:21This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.Read morePowered by Earnings DocumentsPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) Royal Gold Q3 2026 Earnings FAQ Did Royal Gold beat earnings estimates for Q3 2026? Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) reported earnings of $2.80 per share for Q3 2026, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77. The report was announced on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. What was Royal Gold's revenue for Q3 2026? Royal Gold reported revenue of $464.77 million for Q3 2026, against a consensus estimate of $459.84 million. Where can I read Royal Gold's Q3 2026 earnings call transcript? The full Royal Gold Q3 2026 earnings conference call transcript is published on this page, including prepared remarks and the analyst Q&A session, along with the participants who spoke on the call. Royal Gold Earnings HeadlinesRoyal Gold Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript4 minutes ago | benzinga.comRoyal Gold, Inc. Reports Earnings Results for the Third Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2026November 4 at 12:52 AM | marketscreener.comMWhat Elon Musk's Cybercab Reveal Could Mean for InvestorsJeff Brown, the analyst who flagged Bitcoin, Tesla, and Nvidia early, is tracking Elon Musk's next move. He points to a new AI project tied to Musk's Cybercab reveal. Brown says Musk has opened major investment windows before, with PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX marking milestones in tech history. He believes a fourth may open by October 30.November 5 at 1:00 AM | Brownstone Research (Ad)Earnings Flash (RGLD) Royal Gold, Inc. Posts Q3 Adjusted EPS $2.80 per Share, vs. FactSet Est of $2.77November 4 at 7:52 PM | marketscreener.comMEarnings Flash (RGLD) Royal Gold, Inc. Reports Q3 Revenue $464.8M, vs. FactSet Est of $459.8MNovember 4 at 7:52 PM | marketscreener.comMRoyal Gold (RGLD) Q3 2026: Debt Cleared, Revenue Up 84%November 4 at 7:52 PM | 247wallst.comSee More Royal Gold Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Royal Gold? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Royal Gold and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About Royal GoldRoyal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) is a precious metals streaming and royalty company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company provides financing to mining companies in exchange for the right to purchase a portion of the gold, silver, copper, or other metals produced from their mines, typically at predetermined prices. It also holds royalty interests that entitle it to a percentage of revenue or production from mining operations without directly operating the mines. Royal Gold’s business is focused on acquiring and managing a diversified portfolio of streaming and royalty interests. Its interests include established and developing mines such as Mount Milligan in Canada, Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic, Andacollo in Chile, and Cortez in Nevada. Through these arrangements, Royal Gold gains exposure to mineral production while generally avoiding the direct capital, operating, and environmental costs associated with mine development and operation. Founded in 1981, Royal Gold originally pursued mineral exploration before transitioning toward its current royalty and streaming business model. The company’s portfolio spans major mining regions in North America, South America, Australia, and other international markets. Royal Gold is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol RGLD and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol RGL.View Royal Gold ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Latest Articles Uber's Profit Drop: A Speed Bump or Structural Shift?Boeing Has the Orders, the Cash Flow, and Insider Buyers, But What's Still Missing?Keurig Dr Pepper's Beverage Growth Raises a Tough Question About Its Coffee SplitAmazon Has Erased Its Earnings Sell-Off, But Is the Biggest Opportunity Still Ahead?Datadog's Post-Earnings Sell-Off: A Buying Opportunity in Plain Sight?Advanced Micro Devices' Q3 Results Answer a Big Question, But Another Remains3 Dividend Increases Above 10%, But Which Offers the Most Income? 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There are 10 speakers on the call. Operator00:00:00Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Royal Gold Inc. 2026 third quarter conference call. After today's prepared remarks, we will host a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I will now hand the conference over to Alistair Baker, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development. Alistair, please go ahead. Speaker 100:00:35Thank you, operator. Good morning, and welcome to our discussion of Royal Gold's third quarter 2026 results. This event is being webcast live, and a replay of this call will be available on our website. Speaking on the call today are Bill Heissenbuttel, President and CEO, Paul Libner, Senior Vice President and CFO, and Martin Raffield, Senior Vice President of Operations. Other members of the management team are also available for questions. During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements, including statements about our projections and expectations for the future. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in yesterday's press release and our filings with the SEC. We will also refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted net income, adjusted net income per share, adjusted EBITDA, and cash G&A. Speaker 100:01:28Reconciliations of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are available in yesterday's press release, which can be found on our website. Bill will start with an overview of the third quarter, Martin will provide portfolio commentary, and Paul will give a financial update. After our prepared remarks, we'll open the line for questions. I'll now turn the call over to Bill. Speaker 200:01:49Good morning, and thank you for joining the call. I'll begin on slide four. Our strong third quarter results extended the positive momentum from the first half of the year. Revenue for the quarter was $465 million on record volume of 109,000 GEOs, and operating cash flow was $344 million, a record for the third consecutive quarter. Net income was $227 million, and adjusted net income was a record $238 million, or $2.80 per share. We remain a gold-focused business, with gold contributing 73% of total revenue for the quarter. Our adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 84% for the quarter, reflecting our low cash G&A. We paid $40 million of dividends during the quarter at our annual dividend rate of $1.90 per share, which is 6% higher than last year. Speaker 200:02:44We were active on our share buyback program, repurchasing and canceling 190,000 shares for $49 million. We also repaid $250 million on the revolver during the quarter, and the remaining $150 million balance in October. It is remarkable how much cash flow our large and diversified portfolio generates. In the year since we closed the Sandstorm Horizon transaction, we have repaid more than $1.2 billion of debt, paid out $121 million of dividends, repurchased $79 million of shares, and funded $50 million for the Warintza project. I am very pleased with these results. We are now debt-free, our full $1.4 billion revolver is undrawn and available, and we have strong cash flow to redeploy in an active market for business development. I'll now turn the call over to Martin to discuss portfolio performance in the quarter. Speaker 300:03:43Thanks, Bill. Turning to slide five, the portfolio delivered another strong quarter with record sales volume of 109,000 GEOs. Stream revenue was $318 million, up 92% from the prior year quarter. We saw materially higher revenue from Andacollo, Mount Milligan, Pueblo Viejo, Xavantina, and Khoemacau. We also had strong contributions from Kansanshi and new streams at Greenstone, Bonikro, and Chapada, and an initial contribution from Platreef. Royalty revenue was $146 million, up 70% from the prior year quarter. We saw large increases from the Cortez Legacy Zone and Peñasquito, as well as strong contributions from our new interests at Antamina, Fruta del Norte, Caserones, Houndé, and Orizona. Turning to slide six, I'll comment briefly on our full-year guidance. Speaker 300:04:40Based on strong year-to-date sales, we have raised our full-year guidance for other metals, and we expect to be at or above the top end of the guidance ranges for silver and copper sales. Gold sales remain on track around the midpoint of our original guidance range. I'll now turn to slide seven and highlight some notable developments across the portfolio. At Mount Milligan, Centerra reconfirmed that gold and copper production is on track to meet full-year guidance. At Andacollo, Teck reported that production improved through the quarter as operations recovered from earlier weather events, and plant throughput increased in September and returned to full production by month end. Teck now expects 2026 copper production to be at the low end of the 45,000-55,000 ton guidance range. Speaker 300:05:29At Kansanshi, First Quantum reported third quarter copper production of 46,000 tons, slightly higher than the previous quarter due to improved throughput. The new S3 concentrator throughput was sustained above design capacity due to higher operating time, strong utilization, and improved milling rates. First Quantum narrowed the 2026 copper production guidance to 175,000-185,000 tons from the previous 175,000-205,000 tons, which implies gold deliveries under the stream of 29,000-31,000 ounces for 2026. At Cortez, production from the legacy zone ramped up significantly in the third quarter. Our overlapping royalties in this zone create an approximate 9% gross royalty rate. Overall, our blended royalty rate for the quarter was 4.45%, and year to date was 3.85%, compared to our guidance of 3.5%-4% for the full year. This is consistent with expectations that production from the Crossroads deposit would increase during the year. Speaker 300:06:38Barrick and Newmont also resolved their dispute over the Four Mile project, which should allow the project to be optimized within the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture. We expect this to have a positive impact on our royalty, which covers the entirety of the Four Mile project. At Xavantina, Ero provided total 2026 gold production guidance of between 75,000-80,000 ounces, including 30,000-35,000 ounces of mine production. Based on Ero's results to date, this implies total production from mining and stockpiles of approximately 22,000-27,000 ounces in the fourth quarter. At Antamina, production was suspended on October 27th due to a fatality and to allow for investigations by the relevant authorities. Several operators also provided updates that highlight the organic growth potential within our portfolio. At Greenstone, Equinox reported that the first major exploration program since 2020 is underway. Speaker 300:07:40The program is aimed at converting higher-grade underground and satellite mineral resources, extending the mine life, and optimizing throughput beyond the current nameplate capacity of 27,000 tons per day. At Côté, IAMGOLD is aiming to complete an updated mine plan and reserve estimate by the end of this year. The update is expected to show a significant expansion of mineral reserves and mine life, and to outline opportunities to progressively increase plant throughput to a sustained rate of approximately 40,000 tons per day. At Red Chris, Newmont outlined the parameters of the Block Cave project, which is targeted for an investment decision by early 2027. Newmont expects an initial phase one mine life of 13 years, and production to ramp up to an annual average of 275,000-325,000 ounces of gold and 65,000-85,000 tons of copper between 2035 and 2040. Speaker 300:08:42Newmont also expects subsequent phase development with a potential mine life of up to 70 years. At Fruta del Norte, Lundin Gold reported that near-mine exploration continues to deliver exceptional results at FDN South, FDN East, and Bonza Sur. Lundin Gold noted that the potential of these deposits provides increasing confidence in sustaining production at current levels over the longer term. At Chapada, Lundin Mining expects to complete an updated technical report for the Chapada mine and Saúva project by year-end. Permitting for Saúva is continuing alongside further design and engineering work. At Platreef, the phase one concentrator operated at 70% of design in October, and Ivanhoe expects mining and milling rates to improve further as identified bottlenecks have been resolved. Ivanhoe also reported that construction of the phase two concentrator is on schedule for completion by the end of 2027. Speaker 300:09:44At Great Bear, Kinross reported that the advanced exploration surface construction is now substantially complete. The north and south declines continue to advance. Detailed engineering is over 55% complete for the main project, and permitting is progressing. Kinross has advised that they intend to buy back 25% of our royalty in the fourth quarter, which would reduce our interest to a 1.5% NSR in return for approximately $43 million in cash. Recall that we granted Kinross this option in return for information that de-risked the royalty purchase, and the buyback demonstrates the significant value of the Great Bear project. At MARA, Glencore reported that the Alumbrera restart is underway and that the project received approval under Argentina's RIGI investment incentive regime in early October. Our interest at MARA does not cover Alumbrera, but Glencore views the Alumbrera restart as an important step in de-risking the development of MARA. Speaker 300:10:48Finally, at Hod Maden, Lidya continues to advance the project, which is now about 30% complete. I will now turn the call over to Paul. Speaker 400:10:58Thanks, Martin. I will turn to slide eight and give an overview of the financial results for the quarter. On slides eight and nine, I will be comparing the third quarter of 2026 to the prior year quarter. Revenue for the quarter increased 84% to $465 million. The increase was driven by higher metal prices, new contributions from Kansanshi and the Sandstorm Horizon portfolio, and higher sales from Andacollo, Mount Milligan, Pueblo Viejo, and Xavantina. These increases were partially offset by lower sales from Rainy River. Metal prices were significantly higher, with gold up 23%, silver up 59%, and copper up 44%. Gold remains our dominant revenue driver at 73% of total revenue, with silver at 14% and copper at 10%. Turning to slide nine, I will provide more detail on some key line items for the quarter. Speaker 400:11:51G&A expense was $13.2 million, up approximately $3 million from the prior year. The increase was mostly due to higher office and employee-related costs, which included non-cash stock compensation expense. We continue to expect our total G&A expense for the year will finish near the upper end of the $50 million-$60 million range we provided during our February conference call. D&A expense increased $82 million from $33 million in the prior year. On a unit basis, D&A was $752 per GEO, compared to $451 per GEO last year. The increase was mainly due to higher carrying values of the Constancia gold stream and the Sandstorm Horizon interest we acquired in 2025. D&A is in line with our expectations, and we expect to finish the year within our original guidance range of $339 million-$379 million. Speaker 400:12:44The fair value loss on equity securities was $16 million for the quarter, primarily due to a decrease in the value of the Entrée Resources shares we acquired in the Sandstorm Horizon transaction. Interest and other expense decreased to $5 million from $9 million, primarily due to lower average borrowings under our revolving credit facility. Tax expense for the quarter was $58 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of 20.2%. Before discrete items, our year-to-date effective tax rate is 20.1%, and we continue to expect the full-year rate to be within the original guidance range of 17%-22%. Net income for the quarter was $227 million, or $2.68 per share, compared to $127 million, or $1.92 per share in the prior year. Speaker 400:13:32The increase was largely driven by higher revenue and lower acquisition-related costs that were part of the Sandstorm Horizon transaction in the prior year. These items were partially offset by higher cost of sales, depletion expense, fair value losses on equity securities, and income tax expense. Excluding fair value changes in equity securities, adjusted net income was a record $238 million, or $2.80 per share. Finally, operating cash flow for the quarter was a record $344 million, up 98% from $174 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily due to higher stream and royalty revenue and lower acquisition-related costs and interest payments, partially offset by higher income tax expense. I want to end on slide 10 and summarize our financial position. Speaker 400:14:21Our increase and record cash flows have allowed us to quickly pay down debt, further repurchase shares, and rebuild our liquidity. At the end of September, we had total available liquidity of $1.5 billion, made up of $1.25 billion available under our revolver and $226 million of working capital. After quarter end, on October 19th, we repaid the remaining $150 million on our revolver, and we are now debt-free. Adding to our liquidity, after quarter end, we received the second tranche of gold from Centerra as part of the deferred gold consideration for the Mount Milligan Cost Support Agreement. We sold these ounces upon receipt for proceeds of approximately $46 million, and you will see the impact in our fourth quarter results. Speaker 400:15:04As a reminder, these proceeds will not be treated as revenue or included in our GEOs, but they will be included in our operating cash flow. After quarter end, we also finalized the details to make the final $50 million advance payment to Solaris for the Warintza stream and royalty. Solaris will submit the documentation to register our security, and we expect to make the payment shortly. Our only other remaining commitment is our 15% share of Hod Maden project costs. As a reminder, we funded $70 million during the second quarter, and assuming no changes to the project timeline or scope and no debt financing, we expect to start contributing our share of spending in mid-2027 on a pro rata basis with Lidya. Speaker 400:15:46That concludes my comments on our financial performance for the quarter, and I will now turn the call back to Bill for closing comments. Speaker 200:15:52Thanks, Paul. I'll close with three points. First, our cash flow has never been stronger. Our large and diversified portfolio delivered record operating cash flow for the third consecutive quarter, and we again had only two assets contributing more than 10% of revenue. This diversification reduces event risk at any one asset and makes our portfolio one of the best in terms of reducing exposure to mine site events. Our portfolio remains the most gold-focused in our industry, and we continue to earn over 75% of our revenue from countries in the Western Hemisphere. Second, we have significant organic growth embedded in the portfolio. Speaker 200:16:32You heard it in Martin's update, potential to convert resources and extend mine life at Greenstone, a phased Block Cave at Red Chris that could extend the mine life up to 70 years, the RIGI application approval for MARA, the phase II expansion at Platreef, and sufficient progress at Great Bear has prompted Kinross to exercise its royalty buyback right. With the exception of the MARA option payment, all of this growth is already paid for, and our operators are advancing it today. Third, our capital allocation record speaks for itself. We have increased our dividend for 25 consecutive years, and we are the only precious metals company in the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index. In the year since we closed the Sandstorm Horizon transaction, we have returned $200 million to shareholders and repaid more than $1.2 billion of debt. Today, we are debt-free. Speaker 200:17:27With our full $1.4 billion revolver available and an uncommitted accordion feature that could increase it to $2 billion, we are well-positioned to compete for new business, and we will bring that same discipline to every opportunity. We are in a strong position, and I'm confident the market will recognize the value of what we have built, a sustainable and high-margin business with strong cash flow from a diversified portfolio, embedded organic growth from numerous assets, and a long record of disciplined capital allocation. Operator, that concludes our prepared remarks. Please open the line for questions. Operator00:18:04We will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question to allow for optimum sound quality. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Daniel Major with UBS. Correction. Your first question comes from the line of Cosmos Chiu with CIBC. Cosmos, your line is now open. Speaker 500:18:46Thanks. Hi, Bill and team. Thanks for the very thorough presentation. My first question is to highlight, good to see that MARA has received their RIGI permit, and I think earlier than what I had expected and potentially earlier than what you had expected as well. I guess maybe to confirm that, has it exceeded your expectations in terms of MARA? Taking a step back, looking at the entire Sandstorm portfolio, how has it performed? Has there been more positive surprises versus negative surprises? To you, how has it performed since you have acquired that portfolio? Speaker 200:19:30Cosmos, thanks for the question. I think the Sandstorm portfolio has been an absolute success, and you talk about pluses and minuses. I only see pluses. If you just go back to what did we cite when we announced the acquisition? Well, it was about growth, and it was about Platreef, it was about MARA and Hod Maden. Just walk through each one of those. Platreef was under construction, it has made its first delivery. MARA did not have a timeline, and now we have a timeline, we have a RIGI application approval. They have started the mining of the Alumbrera pit earlier than we thought. That has moved, advanced quicker than I think we really thought. Hod Maden, at the time, we did not even have a technical report, let alone a setup in terms of ownership that would allow for the construction of the project. That project is under construction. Speaker 200:20:24All those three key assets that we identified have all advanced and probably advanced faster than we thought. That actually ignores a lot of the great things going on within the producing assets that we purchased. Antamina, almost $40 million in revenue in nine months. Fruta del Norte seems to be getting better and better. You have got upside at Chapada, Caserones. I am really pleased with how that portfolio has performed. Speaker 500:20:56It is great to hear. Bill, maybe talking about this past quarter, as you or Paul mentioned, the majority is coming from precious metals, but you do have about 10% coming from copper, and copper prices have been fairly strong year to date. Are you comfortable with that 10%? Is it too high or is it too low? How should we view that 10% within your portfolio? Speaker 200:21:23Yeah, Cosmos, I think we've been pretty consistent. We're focused on precious metals. We're focused on gold. I don't look at copper as being too high or too low. We like copper. If we find other opportunities in copper that we think are attractive, we may well make those investments. It'll never really, in my mind, be core to what we do. As I always say, when our team is marketing, we're marketing for precious metal opportunities. The copper opportunities we see are ones that typically come in to us, and we look at it, we like it, just like Cactus is an example. So, 10% is just a number. I'm not looking to reduce it, but I'm not also looking strategically to increase it. Speaker 500:22:13Mm-hmm. Of course. Maybe one last question. If I were to look back at the history of Royal Gold, or even now, a large part of your heritage is connected to Barrick, be it Cortez or near-term Pueblo Viejo. As Martin mentioned, there's also Barrick in terms of more clarity at Four Mile that has helped. As we all know, Barrick right now might be looking at an IPO of Barrick North America. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but Bill, would an IPO help in any way, indirectly, in terms of what's happening within your portfolio beyond Four Mile? Speaker 200:22:59Yeah, Cosmos, I think it would. The reason I say that is, when you're running a bigger company with a portfolio of mines, there's so many things that you have to focus on. If we can have Nevada Gold Mines and Pueblo Viejo in, what I'll call, a smaller company in terms of assets, you're not competing for capital with Pakistan or Africa. Maybe the management team has more time to focus on the issues on a fewer number of assets, as opposed to trying to address issues across a broader portfolio. So I'm hopeful that it is, I would say, marginally positive for our interests. Speaker 500:23:41Great. Thanks, Bill. That's good to hear. Those are all the questions I have. Thanks for answering all my questions. Thank you. Speaker 200:23:48Thanks, Cosmos. Operator00:23:50Your next question comes from the line of Derek Ma with TD Cowen. Derek, your line is now open. Speaker 600:23:58Thank you. My question's on Cortez. There are a lot of moving pieces there. I know you haven't put out guidance yet, but directionally, how should we be thinking about Cortez going forward when we look into 2027 and beyond, and how that would compare, I guess, to your 2026 average royalty rate of 3.5%-4%? Speaker 200:24:17Yeah, Derek, I might turn that over to Martin, but before I do, we're not going to get too specific about what we expect in 2027 or going forward. But Martin, maybe you can just talk about where the ounces are now coming from, and if there's anything that you can add maybe towards the end of this year directionally, that would be helpful. Speaker 300:24:38Yeah, I think directionally, Derek, we're looking at a good year for Cortez next year. I say that because as you will see from results in Q2 and probably coming up in Q3, there is more focus at the moment on our legacy zone as they get down towards the bottom of the crossroads pit. We expect that to continue through at least some of next year. So we see good results coming from Cortez next year. Speaker 600:25:15Okay, great. I have one more question on Mount Milligan. Very strong deliveries from Mount Milligan in Q3. Previously, you have talked about a six-month delay, I guess, from production to sales. Given Q2 and Q3 were particularly strong production quarters at Mount Milligan, is the expectation that Q4 deliveries will be even stronger than Q3 to Royal Gold's account, or is it more nuanced in terms of the delivery schedule and the delay from production to sales? Speaker 200:25:44Yeah, it is a little nuanced because the way the deliveries, we have a pretty good idea. I mean, what we are going to get in the fourth quarter is sort of what they produced in the second quarter. The nuance is that you get a shipment that is a little bit later or a little bit earlier than you think, and the way we sell that metal is very much based on when we think the next delivery is coming in. So, if you got a late delivery and that delivery got sold in early 2027 there, that is the only place that there is a bit of nuance. But Martin, I will turn it back to you again and just say, is there anything else that I am missing in that description? Speaker 300:26:25No, I don't think you are missing anything there, Bill. It is very heavily related to shipment timing and deliveries of ships into ports and payments from that. So, I think you are right there. Speaker 600:26:37Okay. Thank you. Maybe a strong Q4, but don't take exactly Q2. All right. Thank you. Speaker 200:26:45Thanks, Derek. Operator00:26:48A reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. Your next question comes from the line of Daniel Major with UBS. Daniel, your line is now open. Speaker 700:27:06Hi, guys. Thanks so much. Not sure what happened just before, but thanks for the questions. Yeah, first one, just thinking into next year, you've obviously given us some color on the buyback from Kinross. Is there any others in the portfolio we should be mindful of in the near term in terms of, yeah, potential buybacks into next year? Speaker 200:27:36Daniel, nothing comes to mind in terms of actual buybacks that operators may have rights to. Speaker 700:27:50Okay. Thanks. I guess second question, just on the deal pipeline. Obviously, we've seen valuations come in a bit. Has that changed the discussions in terms of the processes that you're having, is first question. Then three regional questions on the pipeline. One, is Australia an area that you're seeing additional interest? I know there's been a few deals done that seems to be igniting some more interest in Australia, is the first question. The second is Argentina. I know First Quantum is keeping streaming as an option for funding for Taca Taca. Any discussions there? Then the third one, specifically, there seems to have been some talk in the market about Bingham Canyon. Can you make any comment there? Speaker 200:28:46Yeah, we don't make comments on specific opportunities. Generally speaking, if I understood the first part of your comment, prices coming in, prices getting closer to consensus sure makes a valuation discussion a lot easier. When gold was 5,400 and the long-term price was 3,500 or whatever it was, then that kind of gap really poses a bit of an issue trying to negotiate. So, the prices coming in actually, I think, helps discussions a little bit. Again, coming back to your point on geographies, I would say there are two things that have happened in our sector that I think are positive for our industry. Number one, you saw a very large transaction done by a very large company, and that, we always say, it only takes one to get others prompted to at least look at streaming. So, I think that was positive. Speaker 200:29:43You've seen a number of transactions in Australia. The Australians had never previously wanted to consider streaming. Again, it only takes one, and now we have, I would say, a couple examples where Australian companies did use streaming. Again, I think that opens the door a bit to new opportunities. Speaker 700:30:07Okay. Just to push you there, I mean, Argentina, broadly, from a risk standpoint, would you be comfortable if the opportunities arose in Argentina, whatever the project might be? Speaker 200:30:23Yeah, I mean, I think the whole RIGI application thing at MARA has been positive. The thing you just always have to keep in mind is that when we make investments, I mean, they go on for decades, and you're going to have political change. I would say Argentina is a very favorable location, I think, from my perspective right now, but we're always going to be cautious. I'd say we're open to the country, absolutely. Speaker 700:30:54Great. Thanks a lot. Speaker 200:30:57Thank you. Operator00:30:59Again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. Our next question comes from the line of Sam Overwater with Scotiabank. Sam, your line is now open. Speaker 800:31:14Hi. Good afternoon, Bill and team. Thank you for taking my questions. Also, congratulations on being debt-free. Starting off with capital allocation, now that the credit facility is paid off, can you touch on your capital allocation priorities in terms of managing new transactions, dividends, buybacks, and where you see any changes in these priorities in the next few months? Speaker 200:31:40I do not see any change in priorities. I mean, priority one from my perspective is finding new business opportunities. To me, that is the best way to add value. It is the best way in terms of duration, in terms of growth. It is just very important to keep that pipeline filled. I would say that is number one. With respect to our dividend, I think everybody knows that our board reviews our dividend every November, and that would be the case this year as well. Just in terms of share buybacks, the one comment I would make is, with the increase in interest rates that we have seen, it may be beneficial for us to build a bit of liquidity so if and when we find the investments that we like, we are not as dependent on drawing down on debt, and we have that cash available on our balance sheet. Speaker 200:32:35That to me is, that is the order of priorities. The new business opportunities I think will always be first. Speaker 800:32:44Great. Thanks for the color on that. Moving into the transaction environment, Daniel asked about Australia and Argentina. More specifically in terms of sizing, type, and commodity. Last time we discussed it was between $200 million and $500 million, were some larger transactions floating around, and across a pretty diverse type of asset thoughts, projects, as well as main focus on gold. Are these objectives the same or has maybe the lens shifted a little bit? More specifically, are there jurisdictions that Royal has found themselves most interested in? Speaker 200:33:29Well, what I might do there is hand that over to Dan Breeze, a bit to give you a sense for what we're seeing. Speaker 900:33:40Yeah, happy to, Bill. Hi, Sam, and thanks for the question. I think the way you described it still holds very much right now. I think we're pretty pleased with our pipeline. We're very busy right now across really across a number of opportunities. We're always looking at these third-party royalty packages and new royalties, and of course, the bread and butter of our industry, which is streams for project development. That's probably the bulk of it right now. Bill mentioned about Australia. We're seeing opportunities there. That market certainly has embraced our products. So we're feeling pretty good about the environment right now. Again, I think the sizing that you described is representative. Speaker 800:34:27Amazing. That's great to hear. Just one last quick question just on cash flows. Timing of the Great Bear repurchase is Q4. Can we expect that $43 million along with Q4? Speaker 200:34:41Will we expect it to come in in Q4? Is that your question? Speaker 800:34:46Yeah, then can we expect the inflows at that time as well? Speaker 200:34:50We are expecting it this quarter. Speaker 800:34:54This quarter? Okay, great. Thank you. Speaker 200:34:58Thanks for the questions. Operator00:35:01There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Bill Heissenbuttel for closing remarks. Speaker 200:35:10Well, everyone, thank you for taking the time to join us today. We certainly appreciate your interest in Royal Gold, and we look forward to updating you on our progress during our next quarterly call. Take care. Operator00:35:21This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.Read morePowered by