Income taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Income Taxes

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

	Year ended December 31,
	2016	2015	2014
	$	$	$
Loss before income taxes	(3,027)	(4,110)	(8,749)
Statutory rate	26.50%	26.50%	26.50%
Expected recovery of income tax	(804)	(1,089)	(2,318)
Effect of foreign tax rate differences	(28)	(212)	(619)
Non-deductible amounts	154	57	106
Effect of changes in enacted future rates	66	76	65
Effect of change in foreign exchange rates	-	(155)	(186)
Effect of stock based compensation	(149)	-	-
Effect of prior year true-ups and other	(317)	-	-
Expiration of prior year NOLs	290	-	-
Change in valuation allowance	771	(1,992)	2,952
	(17)	(3,315)	-
Recovery of deferred income taxes		(3,345)	-
	(17)	30	-

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

	As at December 31,
	2016	2015	2014
	$	$	$
Future income tax assets
Deferred tax assets	15,344	8,386	8,074
Net operating loss carry forwards	41,634	41,647	42,251
Less:  valuation allowance	(56,978)	(50,033)	(50,325)
	-	-	-
Future income tax liabilities
Mineral properties	-	-	3,345
Net deferred tax liability	-	-	3,345

Summary of Valuation Allowance

Income tax recovery (expense)	2016	2015	2014
	$	$	$
Recovery of deferred tax liability stemming from Pathfinder acquisition	-	3,345	-
Current income tax recovery (expense)	17	(30)	-
	17	3,315	-

Summary of Operating Loss Carryforwards [Table Text Block]

Income tax loss carry forwards
Canadian (expiring 2016 - 2036)	$ 26,323
United States (expiring 2025 - 2035)	$ 91,607