Royal Gold Acquires Additional Royalty Interests on the Pascua-Lama Gold Project

Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) (TSX: RGL) today announced that
it has acquired the rights to an additional 1.0% net smelter return
('NSR?) sliding-scale gold royalty on the Pascua-Lama project, which is
owned by Barrick Gold Corporation ('Barrick?). The additional interest
was purchased in separate transactions from three private individuals
for a total acquisition price of $68 million. Of this amount, $40
million has been paid to immediately acquire an additional 0.60% royalty
interest, and a deferred payment of $28 million will be made on or
before October 29, 2010 to acquire the remaining 0.40% royalty interest.
Once the acquisition is complete, Royal Gold′s total royalty interest
will increase to 5.23% NSR, at gold prices above $800 per ounce. The
transactions also include a 0.20% fixed-rate copper royalty that takes
effect after January 1, 2017, increasing Royal Gold′s copper royalty
interest to 1.05%.

Tony Jensen, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, 'We are
pleased to, once again, increase our royalty interest on this long-life,
world-class gold project ? having raised our royalty interest this year
from 1.08% to 5.23%, at gold prices above $800 per ounce. Upon
completion of mine construction, we expect that Pascua-Lama will become
one of our cornerstone royalty assets for the next couple of decades.
This transaction reinforces our strategic goals of acquiring gold
royalties on exceptional deposits which are located in attractive host
countries and managed by experienced operators.?

In addition, Royal Gold has obtained certain contingent rights and
reduced certain obligations with respect to the portion of the
Pascua-Lama royalty acquired in the International Royalty Corporation
('IRC?) acquisition. Upon completion of the deferred payment, we will
have (i) reduced the contingent payments from $10.4 million to $8.4
million due from Royal Gold to certain individuals who held the royalty
if gold prices exceed $600 per ounce for any six month period during the
first 36 months of commercial production from the project, and (ii)
decreased payments due from Royal Gold to these individuals from $6.4
million to $4.4 million that would be required to extend 24% of our
royalty interest beyond 14 million ounces of production from the
project. Approximately 20% of the total royalty remains subject to a 14
million ounce cap. Royal Gold also increased its interest in two
one-time payments from $500,000 to $1.5 million which are payable by
Barrick upon the achievement of certain production thresholds at
Pascua-Lama.

Located on the border of Chile and Argentina, the Pascua-Lama project is
in the early stages of construction, with initial commissioning
scheduled for late 2012 and first production expected in the first
quarter of calendar 2013. Reserves at the end of calendar 2008 related
to Royal Gold′s royalty interest totaled 324.7 million tons, at a grade
of 0.045 ounces per ton, for 14.6 million contained ounces, at a gold
price of $750 per ounce. Barrick expects the reserves to support a mine
life of at least 25 years and estimates that Pascua-Lama will produce an
average of 600,000 to 700,000 ounces of gold annually over the life of
the mine. Royal Gold′s royalties (see schedule below) apply to
production on the Chilean side of the project only.

Royal Gold is a precious metals royalty company engaged in the
acquisition and management of precious metal royalty interests. The
Company owns royalties on 189 properties on six continents, including
royalties on 32 producing mines and 24 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.

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 a deferred payment of
$28 million will be made on or before October 29, 2010, the Company′s
royalty interest will increase to 5.23% after the deferred payment is
made at gold prices above $800 per ounce, the expectation that
Pascua-Lama will become a cornerstone royalty for the next couple of
decades, the operator′s estimated dates for commissioning and initial
production, the estimated gold reserves for the project, the estimated
average annual production over the life of the mine, and the reserve
life of the project. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from projections include, among others, completion of the
transaction, precious metals prices, decisions and activities of the
operator of the various properties, unanticipated grade, geological,
metallurgical, processing or other problems the operator may encounter,
changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, economic
and market conditions, as well as other factors described elsewhere in
this press release and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. In addition, acquired royalty interests on certain projects
are subject to risks associated with conducting business in a foreign
country, including application of foreign laws to contract and other
disputes, foreign environmental laws and enforcement and uncertain
political and economic environments. 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.

Royal Gold, Inc.

Karen Gross, 303-575-6504

Vice President and
Corporate Secretary