Monday, February 14, 2011

Bruce Kirchhoff, Vice President and General Counsel of Mining Royalties Firm Royal Gold, Inc., Speaks to DU Students

Bruce Kirchhoff, Vice President and General Counsel of Royal Gold, Inc., spoke recently to students at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law about the business of buying and managing mining royalties involving precious metals.

Royal Gold owns and manages nearly 200 producing, development, evaluation and exploration stage royalties. The royalties are located all around the globe including in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Russia, and the U.S.

He explained how Royal Gold acquires royalties from a range of interests including prospectors, junior mining companies, and in some instances major mining firms. He also noted that in a growing number of situations mining companies are seeking financing from firms such as Royal Gold.

A key step before any royalty is acquired, he said, is to perform careful due diligence about the royalty including examining the royalty's title as well as whether the mine -- if the royalty is attached to a producing asset -- has the proper operating permits in place.

Since Royal Gold is a public company, Mr. Kirchhoff is also centrally involved in making sure the firm's public filings are in place. In this regard, he noted that much of time in recent months has been spent complying with the Dodd-Frank Act, a federal statute enacted last summer that is aimed at corporate governance.

Don Smith, Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program, said, "Bruce Kirchhoff's presentation reflected the observations of a widely respected practitioner who has enormous experience in this field. This event represented a wonderful way for students to learn about the professionalism of a general counsel who is intimately involved in the mining sector. The fact that Mr. Kirchhoff is a graduate from the College of Law made the day all the more meaningful."

Editor's note: In the picture, Mr. Kirchhoff is second from the left. Professor K.K. DuVivier, who teaching Mining Law, is second from the right. Don Smith is on the left.

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