RE: Yemana and RebGoldThe Gross, or Net Smelter Return (NSR) Royalty, is characterized by royalty payments that are a fixed or variable percentage of the sales price, or gross revenue, the mining operator receives from the sale of mineral product from the property. The mining operator's gross revenue, in metal mines, is often referred to as Net Smelter Return because it is common for the mining operator to sell the mineral product in a form that requires further processing by a smelter or refinery. The Net Smelter Return is the amount of money which the smelter or refinery pays the mining operator for the mineral product and is usually based on a spot, or current price of the mineral, with deductions for the costs associated with further processing. In non-metal mines the selling price is usually 'fob mine site' because of the transportation costs involved in delivering the mineral product to the buyer.
Gross, or NSR, royalty payments are also fairly simple to calculate and administer in that only the selling price and quantity of mineral product produced or sold are required for their determination. A mining lease clause usually specifies the selling price that is to be used because of the differences in price among the spot, contract and forward markets that exist for different mineral products. Because the mineral price and quantity of mineral produced or sold may vary considerably during a royalty accounting period, the mining lease must provide details regarding the amount of information that is supplied to the mineral property owner in order for the owner to verify, or audit, the royalty payment amounts. This type of royalty will usually have the highest market value of all the royalty types in the event the royalty owner should want to sell it to a royalty buying company.