The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, Aug. 13, edition that two mining royalty firms have joined forces in a financing deal for the first time, a signal their business is evolving and more co-operation is likely across this sector in the future. The Post's Peter Koven writes that Franco-Nevada ($66.23 (Canadian)) and Sandstorm Gold ($6.63 (Canadian)) said this week they will jointly provide at least $100-million (U.S.) to True Gold Mining (43 Canadian cents) for the company's Karma gold project in Burkina Faso. The transaction has two key elements: a fixed repayment in gold, and a long-term streaming agreement in which the royalty companies will acquire a portion of the gold from Karma. It is a small deal, but insiders say it provides a glimpse of how this business is rapidly changing as royalty deals start to resemble more conventional project financing. The Post says major royalty firms have become an increasingly crucial source of capital for emerging mining companies. They have stepped up and done a large number of deals as the banks became reluctant to deal with any single-asset miners. Recently royalty companies have moved into the traditional debt finance space that the banks are vacating.