....Then consider Royalty Companies (They tend to out perform their mining counterparts!)

Royalty companies make upfront payments to resource companies that need money to complete their projects. In exchange, the royalty company gets a portion of the resource company's future production.

Royalty companies are therefore considered to be a low risk way of getting exposure to precious metal prices

Advantages:

(1) No exploration costs.
(2) No operation costs (hence no unexpected mining costs!)
(3) Small employee workforce
(4) Exploration upside at no additional cost
(5) Agreement normally covers entire life of mine, therefore upside if LOM increased!
(6) No capital expense overruns
(7) Royalty companies tend to hold up better than mining stocks when precious metals prices declines

Disadvantages

(1) High price-to-earning multiple
(2) Relatively over valued due to limited supply of shares

Examples of Royalty Companies:

Royal Gold
Franco Nevada
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp
Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd
Sandstorm Gold