Inventories, Stockpiles and Mineralized Materials on Leach Pads (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Inventory [Line Items]
Finished goods	$ 0	$ 0
In-process	591,961	662,929
Total inventories	591,961	662,929
Stockpiles	45,455	361,061
Mineralized material on leach pads	502,025	3,919,603
Total stockpiles and mineralized material on leach pads	547,480	4,280,664
Inventory write down on mineralized material on leach pads	1,514,574	0	0
Stockpiles
Inventory [Line Items]
Inventory write down on mineralized material on leach pads	362,320
Mineralized Materials on Leach Pads
Inventory [Line Items]
Inventory write down on mineralized material on leach pads	$ 1,152,254