Royal Gold Announces Reserve and Production Forecasts Associated with its Interests

ROYAL GOLD, INC.(NASDAQ: RGLD) ?(TSX: RGL), today
announced updated estimates for ore reserves and mineralized material¹
as of December 31, 2011, and calendar 2012 production estimates with
respect to properties subject to its portfolio. These are the most
recent figures provided by the operators, or obtained by Royal Gold
through publicly available information, for properties on which the
Company owns interests.

At the end of calendar 2011, precious metals reserves on properties
subject to the Company′s interests, net of depletion, were approximately
84.5 million ounces of gold and 1.2 billion ounces of silver. This
compares to reserves of approximately 83.9 million ounces of gold and
1.4 billion ounces of silver estimated as of December 31, 2010. The
reduction in silver was due mainly to production depletion and lower
reserves at Peñasquito due to an increase in operating costs.

After applying the Company′s interests to the reserves noted above, net
gold reserves attributable to Royal Gold increased from approximately
4.5 million ounces as of December 31, 2010 to 5.7 million ounces as of
December 31, 2011, representing an increase of approximately 27%. On a
gold equivalent basis, using a ratio of approximately 50:1 of silver to
gold, precious metals reserves attributable to Royal Gold increased from
5.2 million ounces as of December 31, 2010 to 6.2 million ounces as of
December 31, 2011, representing an increase of 19%. These increases were
driven largely by the Company′s increased interest at the Mt. Milligan
project in British Columbia.

The attached table contains highlights of production information related
to our producing interests provided by the operators of those
properties. The complete Royalty/Metal
Stream Portfolio, which includes reserves, mineralized material¹,
and production subject to the Company's interests on producing and
development properties can be found on our website.

For further information about our royalties and similar interests,
please see our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as our other public
reports.

___________________

¹ The U.S. Securities and Exchange commission does not
recognize this term. Mineralized material is not part of proven and
probable reserves and may never be converted into reserves.

CORPORATE PROFILE

Royal Gold is a precious metals royalty company engaged in the
acquisition and management of precious metal royalties and similar
interests. The Company′s current portfolio consists of 193 properties on
six continents, including interests on 38 producing mines and 25
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 statements regarding
production estimates for calendar 2012 provided by third-party
operators; reserves and additional mineralization estimates provided by
or derived from information provided by third party operators and the
sliding-scale features of our royalty structure at certain of our
properties. Net gold and metal reserves attributable to Royal Gold′s
royalty and other interests are subject to certain assumptions and, like
reserves, do not reflect actual ounces that will be produced. Like any
royalty or similar interest on a non-producing or not yet in development
project, our interests on development projects are subject to certain
risks, such as the ability of the operators to bring the projects into
production and operate in accordance with their feasibility studies and
the ability of Royal Gold to make accurate assumptions regarding
valuation and timing and amount of payments. In addition, many of our
interests 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. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially include, among others, changes in precious
metals prices, performance of and production at our royalty properties,
decisions and activities of the operators of our royalty properties,
mine completion, unanticipated grade, geological, metallurgical,
processing or other problems the operators of the mining properties may
encounter, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be
refined, economic and market conditions, and future financial needs of
our operators, as well as other factors described by the Securities and
Exchange Commission. 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.

FOOTNOTES TO TABLE 1

¹ The estimates and production reports are prepared by the
operators of the mining properties. Royal Gold does not participate in
the preparation or verification of the operators′ estimates or
production reports and has not independently assessed or verified the
accuracy of such information. Please refer to our cautionary statement
regarding forward-looking statements and to the risk factors identified
in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission for information regarding factors
that could affect actual results.

² NSR sliding-scale schedule (price of gold per ounce ?
royalty rate): Below $375 ? 1.75%; >$375 to $400 ? 2.0%; >$400 to $425 ?
2.25%; >$425 and higher ? 2.5%. All price points are stated in 1986
dollars and are subject to adjustment in accordance with a blended index
comprised of labor, diesel fuel, industrial commodities, and mining
machinery.

³ GSR sliding-scale schedule (price of gold per ounce ?
royalty rate): Below $210 ? 0.40%; $210 to $229.99 ? 0.50%; $230 to
$249.99 ? 0.75%; $250 to $269.99 ? 1.30%; $270 to $309.99 ? 2.25%; $310
to $329.99 ? 2.60%; $330 to $349.00 ? 3.00%; $350 to $369.99 ? 3.40%;
$370.00 to 389.00 ? 3.75%; $390 to $409.99 ? 4.0%; $410 to $429.99 ?
4.25%; $430 to $449.99 ? 4.50%; $450 to $469.99 ? 4.75%; $470 and higher
? 5.00%.

⁴ NSR sliding-scale will pay 2.0% when the price of gold is
above $350 per ounce and 1.0% when the price of gold falls to $350 per
ounce or below.

⁵ Production is expected to commence in the second half of
calendar 2012.

⁶ Production guidance reflects the entire project. Operator
has not provided a breakdown of production by royalty interest.

⁷ Production estimates reflect payable metal and are subject
to third party treatment charges.

⁸ Recovered metal is contained in concentrate and is subject
to third party recovery losses.

⁹ NSR sliding-scale schedule (price of gold per ounce ?
royalty rate): $0.00 to under $350 ? 0.0%; $350 to under $400 ? 0.5%;
$400 to under $500 ? 1.0%; $500 or higher ? 2.0%.

¹⁰ NSR sliding-scale schedule (price of gold per ounce ?
royalty rate): $0.00 to $350 ? 1.0%; above $350 ? 1.5%.

¹¹ Gold royalty rate is based on the price of silver per
ounce. NSR sliding-scale schedule (price of silver per ounce ? royalty
rate): Below $5.00 ? 0.0%; $5.00 to $7.50 ? 3.778%; >$7.50 ? 9.445%.

¹² The NSR sliding-scale royalty is capped once payments of
approximately $17 million have been received. As of December 31, 2011,
payments of approximately $10.6 million have been recognized. NSR
sliding-scale schedule (price of gold per ounce ? royalty rate): less
than $300 ? 2.0%; $300 to $350 ? 3.0%; greater than $350 ? 4.0%.

¹³ The Company′s royalty is subject to a 2.0 million ounce
cap on gold production. There have been approximately 805,000 ounces of
cumulative production, as of December 31, 2011. NSR sliding-scale
schedule (price of gold per ounce ? royalty rate): $0.00 to $299.99 ?
1.0%; $300 to $324.99 ? 1.50%; $325 to $349.99 ? 2.0%; $350 to $374.99 ?
3.0%; $375 to $399.99 ? 4.0%; $400 or higher ? 5.0%.

¹⁴ The royalty rate is 75% until 910,000 payable ounces of
gold have been produced; 50% thereafter. There have been approximately
73,000 of cumulative payable ounces produced as of December 31, 2011.
Gold is produced as a by-product of copper.

¹⁵ Recovered metal is contained in concentrate and is subject
to third party treatment charges and recovery losses.

¹⁶ Production guidance for October 2011 through September
2012.

¹⁷ All metals are paid based upon zinc prices. NSR
sliding-scale schedule (price of zinc per pound ? royalty rate): Below
$0.50 ? 0.0%; $0.50 to below $0.55 ? 1.0%; $0.55 to below $0.60 ? 2.0%;
$0.60 or higher ? 3.0%.

¹⁸ Production guidance for July 2011 through June 2011.

¹⁹ The 2.0% GSR royalty applies to gold production from
defined portions of the Taparko-Bouroum project area.

NOTE:

The Table does not include production information for Allan, Johnson
Camp, Skyline and three oil and gas royalties.

DEFINITIONS

The Company′s production portfolio contains several different types of
interests which are defined as follows:

Gross Smelter Return ('GSR?) Royalty - a
defined percentage of the gross revenue from a resource extraction
operation, less, if applicable, certain contract-defined costs paid by
or charged to the operator.

Gross Value ('GV') Royalty - a
defined percentage of the gross revenue from a resource extraction
operation, less certain contract-defined costs, if any.

Metal Stream ? a metal purchase agreement
that provides, in exchange for an upfront deposit payment, the right to
purchase all or a portion of one or more metals produced from a mine, at
a price determined for the life of the transaction by the purchase
agreement.

Net Smelter Return ('NSR?) Royalty - a
defined percentage of the gross revenue from a resource extraction
operation, less a proportionate share of incidental transportation,
insurance, refining and smelting costs.

Net Value Royalty ('NVR?) - a defined
percentage of the gross revenue from a resource extraction operation,
less certain contract-defined transportation costs, milling costs and
taxes.

Royalty - the right to receive a percentage
or other denomination of mineral production from a resource extraction
operation.

Royal Gold

Karen Gross

Vice President and Corporate
Secretary

303-575-6504