Royalty and Streaming Companies: How They Profit from Gold and Silver

Royalty and streaming companies provide capital to miners in exchange for a right to a percentage of revenue or production (royalty) or for a portion of future output (streaming). Their business model gives investors exposure to commodity prices (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, etc.) with generally lower operational risk than direct ownership of mining operations. For anyone interested in investing in gold or silver, these companies deserve serious consideration. Below we explain the model and list major players — from the largest, most diversified royalty firms to smaller names and juniors.

How the Royalty and Streaming Model Works?

• Royalties: The royalty company receives a percentage of revenue or production from a mine (typically 1–5% of the net smelter return, or a fixed amount per ounce) in exchange for providing early-stage financing, exploration capital, or other upfront payments to the mining operator. Importantly, the royalty company does not own or operate the mine — it simply collects its share as long as the mine produces.
• Streams: The streaming company provides an upfront payment to a mining company — often helping fund mine construction or expansion — and, in return, secures the right to purchase a fixed percentage of the mine’s future metal production at a pre-agreed (and typically discounted) price. Instead of operating the mine, the streamer effectively finances it and later receives physical metal deliveries, benefiting from long-term exposure to commodity prices without bearing full mining risks.
• Investor benefits: Exposure to metal prices and exploration upside, recurring cash-flow-like payments, lower capital expenditures and operational risk (no mining operations), and often attractive dividend policies. These characteristics make them a lower-risk way to gain leverage to metals compared with direct miner.

Key Things to Watch

• Concentration of revenue by metal: How much of a company's cashflow comes from gold vs silver vs base metals.
• Quality and life-of-mine of underlying assets: Long-life, low-cost mines are best.
• Counterparty risk: Creditworthiness and jurisdiction of the miner operator.
• Growth pipeline: Ability to deploy capital into new streams/royalties at attractive returns.

Figure 1: Illustration of gold mining financing created by AI (source: Craiyon)

Major Royalty and Streaming Companies

The following royalty and streaming companies are ranked roughly by their size and market prominence as of October 2025. Please note that the order may change over time as market conditions evolve and new players emerge. For now, however, it seems that Franco-Nevada (FNV) and Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM) remain firmly on the throne — and it will be interesting to watch whether Royal Gold (RGLD) or Osisko Gold Royalties (OR) can eventually challenge their dominance.

1. Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV): One of the largest and most diversified precious-metals royalty companies. It earns the majority of revenue from precious metals; in recent reporting precious-metal revenue was ~79% of total, with ~66% from gold and ~11% from silver. Franco-Nevada is known for a large, long-life portfolio and conservative capital allocation.
2. Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM): A premier streaming company with a high-quality portfolio of long-life, low-cost assets. Wheaton’s reported revenue mix in recent periods has been roughly ~60–65% gold and ~30–35% silver (with small amounts of other metals in some quarters). The company emphasizes margin and dividend consistency.
3. Royal Gold, Inc. (RGLD): Major royalty company with a diversified portfolio and stable cash flows. Royal Gold has been active in M&A to expand its stream/royalty base and historically derives a high share of revenue from gold (majority). Recent strategic deals and acquisitions (including transformative transactions in 2025) have increased its scale.
4. OR Royalties (OR): Canadian royalty company (formerly known as Osisko Royalties) with a growing portfolio spanning gold and other metals. OR combines recurring royalty income with selective growth investments and has been expanding its asset base globally. Often cited among top mid-cap royalty names.
5. Sandstorm Gold (SAND): Smaller royalty/stream company offering a diversified backlog of royalties and streams, typically higher growth but smaller scale than FNV/WPM. Sandstorm is often considered a higher-beta royalty play.
6. Triple Flag Precious Metals (TFPM): A streaming and royalty firm that has grown rapidly through deals and is active across gold and other precious metals; it reported meaningful revenue growth and first-production milestones in 2025. Triple Flag is a newer but quickly scaling player.
7. Metalla Royalty & Streaming (MTA): a growing junior-to-mid-cap royalty company that acquires royalties and streams, often focusing on accretive, smaller transactions and building a diversified revenue stream across metals.
8. EMX Royalty (EMX): Royalty company with a portfolio of royalties and exploration assets worldwide; EMX combines near-term royalty cashflows with a pipeline of exploration projects.

Why Royalties/Streamers Are Often Called “Lower Risk” Than Miners?

• No mining operations: Royalties/streamers don’t manage mines, so they avoid capex overruns, operational failures, labor disputes and many site/technical risks that miners face directly.
• Predictable cashflows: Long-term contractual deliveries or revenue slices from producing mines often provide relatively steady cash inflows tied to metal volumes and prices.
• Diversification: Many royalty companies own dozens or hundreds of royalties/streams across jurisdictions and commodities, spreading single-asset risk.
• Balance-sheet strength: Top royalty companies often maintain conservative balance sheets and return capital via dividends, buybacks or additional accretive deals.

Risks

• Counterparty risk: If the underlying miner defaults, the royalty/stream may be impaired.
• Commodity concentration: Companies with very high exposure to a single metal (e.g., >70% gold) are still leveraged to that metal’s price swings.
• Jurisdiction risk: Royalties on mines in risky countries carry political and regulatory risk.
• Deal execution risk: Growth depends on buying attractive royalties/streams — paying too much can dilute returns.

Conclusion

Streaming and royalty companies are a compelling way to access precious-metal economics with lower operational risk than owning miners outright. The sector ranges from mega-caps like Franco-Nevada (FNV) and Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM) to smaller, higher-growth names such as OR Royalties, Sandstorm, Metalla, EMX and Triple Flag. For many investors these firms offer a mix of commodity exposure, recurring cash flows and dividend potential — but as always, examine revenue concentration, counterparties, and jurisdictional risks before committing capital.

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Based on the original Czech article: Royalty a streaming společnosti – jak profitují na zlatu a stříbru.