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Back in 2023, royalty/streaming giant Franco-Nevada (FNV) saw its biggest-ever bet — the Cobre Panama copper mine — collapse, forcing FNV to write off the entire $1 billion investment. This was front-page news in the mining industry, and, among other things, provided investors with a benchmark against which to measure the size of royalty/streaming deals: $1 billion is extremely big.

Now fast forward to 2025. Gold is comfortably above $3,000/oz, silver is gaining momentum, and the royalty companies are generating record cash flow. In response, they’re starting to swing for the fences.

“Big mid-tier” Royal Gold (RGLD), for instance, is in the process of acquiring slightly smaller but still substantial Sandstorm Gold Royalty for $3.5 billion. And with that deal still pending, Royal just announced a $1 billion streaming agreement.

Remember, two years ago $1 billion was viewed as a dangerously large bet for a much bigger player in this space. Here’s the announcement:

Royal Gold Acquires Gold Stream on the Large-Scale, Long-Life, Kansanshi Copper-Gold Mine Operated by First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Royal Gold (Nasdaq: RGLD) has entered into a precious metals purchase agreement for gold deliveries referenced to copper production from the Kansanshi copper-gold mine in the North Western Province of Zambia, operated and 80% owned by a subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals.

Royal Gold has agreed to make an advance payment of $1.0 billion in return for a gold stream referenced to copper production, with deliveries of 75 ounces of gold per million pounds of recovered copper produced until the delivery of 425,000 ounces; 55 ounces of gold per million pounds of recovered copper produced between the delivery of 425,001 ounces and 650,000 ounces; and 45 ounces of gold per million pounds of recovered copper produced thereafter. Royal Gold will initially pay 20% of the spot gold price for each ounce delivered. Additionally, and depending on the achievement of certain objectives as described below, Royal Gold will increase the percentage of spot gold price paid for each ounce delivered to 35% and has also granted options to First Quantum to accelerate stream deliveries.

Acquisition Highlights

• Immediate gold revenue and cash flow from a producing copper-gold mine: The effective date of the transaction is August 5, 2025 and Royal Gold expects to receive approximately 12,500 ounces of gold in 2025. Gold deliveries are expected to average approximately 35,000-40,000 ounces per year over the next 10 years.

• Accretive per share metrics: Funding sources for the acquisition consisted of available cash resources and a draw on our revolving credit facility, without issuing new shares.

• Established operation with a world-class resource, and long-life and large-scale production: The Kansanshi copper-gold mine has been First Quantum’s flagship operation since 2005, and known reserves are expected to support continued production for an additional mine life of over 20 years.

Meanwhile, Franco-Nevada appears to have recovered from its Cobre Panama bust and is buying a $300 million royalty. Here’s that announcement:

Franco-Nevada Announces Acquisition of 1.0% NSR on AngloGold’s Arthur Gold Project in Nevada

Franco-Nevada Corporation (NYSE:FNV) is pleased to announce the acquisition of an existing 1.0% net smelter return royalty on AngloGold Ashanti’s Arthur Gold Project for $250 million in cash, plus a contingent cash payment of $25 million payable subject to the achievement of certain conditions as described below.

The Arthur Gold Project is one of the largest and fastest growing new gold discoveries in the United States. The ongoing drill program expanded the resource by 20% year over year, taking the most recently stated gold Mineral Resource base to 3.4 million ounces of Indicated Mineral Resources and 12.9 million ounces of Inferred Mineral Resources.

“The Arthur Gold Project is one of the most exciting new gold discoveries in Nevada,” said Paul Brink, President & CEO of Franco-Nevada. “AngloGold, a tier-1 operator, has been rapidly growing the resource base at Arthur since its initial discovery in 2018.”

Cash is pouring in

The leading royalty companies have increasing amounts of money to spend and are using it to grow aggressively. That makes most of the small-to-medium-sized players in this sector takeover candidates, at prices considerably above the past year’s trading range.

Emerging miners will also benefit from easier financing options going forward.

If there’s a downside, it’s that the big guys might start overpaying for deals, leading to another Cobre Panama and/or disappointing profit margins.

The takeaway: Buy the juniors in this space and hold the leaders. But watch for signs of overheating and don’t be afraid to take profits as the bull market unfolds.

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