A gold royalty is merely a contract that grants the owner (i.e., a gold royalty corporation) rights to a portion of the finished product, much like a music royalty does. It may be expressed as a proportion of sales or as actual gold production (called a “stream”). Gold royalty firms use these contracts to finance mining enterprises in need of funding by paying an upfront fee for royalty rights. The life of a mine is normally covered by royalties, therefore gold royalty firms profit from exploring opportunities that could expand the mine’s lifespan and raise the amount of money (or gold) they receive from the mine without incurring further expenses.