Statement of Stockholders Equity (USD $)	Common Stock [Member]	Additional Paid-In Capital [Member]	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income [Member]	Deficit Accumulated During the Exploration Stage [Member]	Noncontrolling Interest [Member]	Total
Beginning Balance at May. 26, 1999
Net loss for the year				$ (2,465)		$ (2,465)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 1999				(2,465)		(2,465)
Net loss for the year				0		0
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2000				(2,465)		(2,465)
Shares issued for cash at $0.001 per share	1,500					1,500
Shares issued for cash at $0.001 per share (Shares)	1,500,000
Shares issued for cash at $0.01 per share	2,500	22,500				25,000
Shares issued for cash at $0.01 per share (Shares)	2,500,000
Shares issued to acquire mineral property interest at $0.01 per share	1,500	13,500				15,000
Shares issued to acquire mineral property interest at $0.01 per share (Shares)	1,500,000
Shares issued for cash at $0.35 per share	91	31,584				31,675
Shares issued for cash at $0.35 per share (Shares)	90,500
Net loss for the year				(47,158)		(47,158)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2001	5,591	67,584		(49,623)		23,552
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2001	5,590,500
Shares issued for cash at $0.35 per share	50	17,450				17,500
Shares issued for cash at $0.35 per share (Shares)	50,000
Net loss for the year				(51,671)		(51,671)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2002	5,641	85,034		(101,294)		(10,619)
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2002	5,640,500
Net loss for the year				(26,916)		(26,916)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2003	5,641	85,034		(128,210)		(37,535)
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2003	5,640,500
Net loss for the year				(20,096)		(20,096)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2004	5,641	85,034		(148,306)		(57,631)
Beginning Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2004	5,640,500
Shares issued for cash at $0.10 per share	6,959	688,991				695,950
Shares issued for cash at $0.10 per share (Shares)	6,959,500
Shares issued for cash at $0.40 per unit	5,420	2,162,580				2,168,000
Shares issued for cash at $0.40 per unit (Shares)	5,420,000
Shares issued for compensation to related parties at a fair value of $1.01 per share	3,775	3,808,975				3,812,750
Shares issued for compensation to related parties at a fair value of $1.01 per share (Shares)	3,775,000
Shares issued to settle debt	200	211,800				212,000
Shares issued to settle debt (Shares)	200,000
Share issuance costs		(43,987)				(43,987)
Net loss for the year				(5,002,225)		(5,002,225)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2005	21,995	6,913,393		(5,150,531)		1,784,857
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2005	21,995,000
Shares issued for cash at $1.00 per share	7,245	7,237,755				7,245,000
Shares issued for cash at $1.00 per share (Shares)	7,245,000
Shares issued for cash at $1.75 per share	2,142	3,746,708				3,748,850
Shares issued for cash at $1.75 per share (Shares)	2,142,200
Shares issued for finders fees	238	277,460				277,698
Shares issued for finders fees (Shares)	238,498
Shares issued for services at $0.91 per share	100	90,900				91,000
Shares issued for services at $0.91 per share (Shares)	100,000
Fair value of stock options granted		4,124,025				4,124,025
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants	2,700	1,774,550				1,777,250
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants (Shares)	2,700,000
Shares issued to settle debt	140	129,690				129,830
Shares issued to settle debt (Shares)	139,640
Share issuance costs		(516,964)				(516,964)
Foreign currency translation adjustments			542			542
Net loss for the year				(6,548,901)		(6,548,901)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2006	34,560	23,777,517	542	(11,699,432)		12,113,187
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2006	34,560,338
Fair value of stock options granted		4,997,753				4,997,753
Shares issued upon the exercise of options	182	287,918				288,100
Shares issued upon the exercise of options (Shares)	182,000
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants	4,482	8,312,196				8,316,678
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants (Shares)	4,481,749
Foreign currency translation adjustments			(61)			(61)
Net loss for the year				(14,197,366)		(14,197,366)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2007	39,224	37,375,384	481	(25,896,798)		11,518,291
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2007	39,224,087
Shares issued to acquire mineral properties	5,750	19,084,250				19,090,000
Shares issued to acquire mineral properties (Shares)	5,750,000
Fair value of stock options granted		2,681,417				2,681,417
Shares issued upon the exercise of options	356	304,669				305,025
Shares issued upon the exercise of options (Shares)	356,300
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants	96	240,154				240,250
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants (Shares)	96,100
Shares issued pursuant to private placement	9,865	23,666,135				23,676,000
Shares issued pursuant to private placement (Shares)	9,865,000
Shares issued to settle debt	161	402,089				402,250
Shares issued to settle debt (Shares)	160,900
Share issuance costs		(1,387,219)				(1,387,219)
Contribution from non-controlling interest					1,018,770	1,018,770
Foreign currency translation adjustments			(481)			(481)
Net loss for the year				(34,247,199)	(949,185)	(35,196,384)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2008	55,452	82,366,879		(60,143,997)	69,585	22,347,919
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2008	55,452,387
Fair value of stock options granted		922,265				922,265
Shares issued upon the exercise of options	243	165,882				166,125
Shares issued upon the exercise of options (Shares)	242,500
Shares issued pursuant to public offering	8,500	16,991,500				17,000,000
Shares issued pursuant to public offering (Shares)	8,500,000
Share issuance costs		(1,634,628)				(1,634,628)
Contribution from non-controlling interest					686,908	686,908
Net loss for the year				(8,699,154)	(701,972)	(9,401,126)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2009	64,195	98,811,898		(68,843,151)	54,521	30,087,463
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2009	64,194,887
Fair value of stock options granted		3,746,165				3,746,165
Fair value of warrants issued for mineral property costs		1,258,000				1,258,000
Shares issued upon the exercise of options	454	431,461				431,915
Shares issued upon the exercise of options (Shares)	454,100					454,100
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants	25	74,975				75,000
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants (Shares)	25,000
Shares issued pursuant to public offering	6,147	19,993,853				20,000,000
Shares issued pursuant to public offering (Shares)	6,147,446
Share issuance costs		(1,177,395)				(1,177,395)
Contribution from non-controlling interest					692,852	692,852
Net loss for the year				(14,599,983)	(639,419)	(15,239,402)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2010	70,821	123,138,957		(83,443,134)	107,954	39,874,598
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2010	70,821,433
Fair value of stock options granted		6,404,307				6,404,307
Shares issued upon the exercise of options	2,224	2,237,984				2,240,208
Shares issued upon the exercise of options (Shares)	2,223,920					2,223,920
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants	4,042	12,120,221				12,124,263
Shares issued upon the exercise of warrants (Shares)	4,041,421
Share issuance costs		(24,643)				(24,643)
Contribution from non-controlling interest					574,685	574,685
Net loss for the year				(18,053,923)	(570,423)	(18,624,346)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2011	77,087	143,876,826		(101,497,057)	112,216	42,569,072
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2011	77,086,774
Fair value of stock options granted		1,448,394				1,448,394
Shares issued upon the exercise of options	121	96,763				96,884
Shares issued upon the exercise of options (Shares)	120,800					120,800
Contribution from non-controlling interest					383,040	383,040
Net loss for the year				(14,501,541)	(372,888)	(14,874,429)
Ending Balance at Dec. 31, 2012	$ 77,208	$ 145,421,983		$ (115,998,598)	$ 122,368	$ 29,622,961
Ending Balance (Shares) at Dec. 31, 2012	77,207,574