Long-Term Debt and Capital Lease Obligations (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended							1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	10 Months Ended	11 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 Catepillar Equipment Facility	Dec. 31, 2012 Catepillar Equipment Facility	Jul. 31, 2012 Catepillar Equipment Facility	Dec. 31, 2012 Catepillar Equipment Facility Default Interest Rate	Jul. 31, 2012 Auramet Facility oz semi_monthly_delivery	Dec. 31, 2013 Auramet Facility	Jul. 31, 2012 Auramet Facility Monthly Scenario oz	Jul. 31, 2012 Auramet Facility Default Interest Rate	Nov. 30, 2013 The Golden Goose Mine	Oct. 31, 2013 The Golden Goose Mine	Nov. 30, 2013 The Golden Goose Mine	Dec. 31, 2012 The Golden Goose Mine	Dec. 31, 2013 The Golden Goose Mine	Nov. 30, 2013 Notes Payable, Amount Paid in November 2013 The Golden Goose Mine	Jan. 02, 2014 Notes Payable, Amounts to be Paid in January 2014 The Golden Goose Mine	Dec. 31, 2013 Notes Payable, Amount to be Paid in April 2014 The Golden Goose Mine	Jul. 31, 2012 Gold call derivative oz	Jul. 31, 2012 Put Option oz
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Maximum borrowing capacity						$ 5,000,000		$ 5,000,000
Amount outstanding				5,000,000				5,000,000
Term of debt					30 months
Increase (decrease) in long-term debt				2,542,713
Noncash investing and financing settlement of debt through transfer of fixed assets				1,028,180
Number of ounces of gold								3,720		310
Number of semi-monthly deliveries								12
Debt instrument interest rate								24.00%
Compensating Balance, Amount								3,000,000
Number of ounces of gold																				5,950	10,000
Strike price, per ounce																				2,000	1,250
Value of option															325,938	0				124,691
Derivative liabilities	250,000	544,681																			172,500
Accretion of convertible debenture discounts									953,397
Notes reduction									2,723,107
Repayments of long-term debt									2,819,065
Loss on extinguishment of debt	286,535	0	0						286,535
Principal amount									5,000,000						2,500,000.0	2,500,000
Note payable, interest rate					5.85%		18.00%				15.00%				0.00%
Discount rate															5.00%
Shares issued for principal payments (shares)													37,141
Value of shares issued for debt principal payments													75,000
Percentage reduction in net smelter royalty rate												3.00%
Principal and interest exchanged at August 31, 2010												2,200,000
Extinguishment of Debt, Amount To Be Paid in Cash														200,000			75,000	62,500	62,500
Shares issued in satisfaction of debt												1,000,000
Fair value of shares issued in satisfaction of debt												1,840,000
Value of shares issued in satisfaction of debt												$ 2,000,000