Income taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Income Taxes

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

	Year ended December 31,
	2015	2014	2013
	$	$	$
Loss before income taxes	(4,110)	(8,749)	(30,353)
Statutory rate	26.50%	26.50%	26.50%
Expected recovery of income tax	(1,089)	(2,318)	(8,044)
Effect of foreign tax rate differences	(212)	(619)	(3,247)
Non-deductible amounts	57	106	108
Effect of changes in enacted future rates	76	65	(286)
Effect of change in foreign exchange rates	(155)	(186)	(161)
Effect of stock based compensation	-	-	159
Change in valuation allowance	(1,992)	2,952	11,471
	(3,315)	-	-
Recovery of deferred income taxes	(3,345)	-	-
	30	-	-

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

	As at December 31,
	2015	2014	2013
	$	$	$
Future income tax assets
Deferred tax assets	8,386	8,074	8,337
Net operating loss carry forwards	41,647	42,251	39,432
Less:  valuation allowance	(50,033)	(50,325)	(47,769)
	-	-	-
Future income tax liabilities
Mineral properties	-	3,345	3,345
Net deferred tax liability	-	3,345	3,345

Summary of Valuation Allowance

Income tax recovery (expense)	2015	2014	2013
	$	$	$
Recovery of deferred tax liability stemming from Pathfinder acquisition	3,345	-	-
Current income tax expense	(30)	-	-
	3,315	-	-

Summary of Operating Loss Carryforwards [Table Text Block]

Income tax loss carry forwards
Canadian (expiring 2016 - 2036)	$ 30,597
United States (expiring 2025 - 2035)	$ 92,971