2.2.0.25falsefalse1010 - Disclosure - Description of Businesstruefalsefalse1falsefalseUSDfalsefalse1/1/2010 - 12/31/2010 USD ($) USD ($) / shares $D2010http://www.sec.gov/CIK0001415020duration2010-01-01T00:00:002010-12-31T00:00:00USDStandardhttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217USDiso42170USDPerShareDividehttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217USDiso4217http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instancesharesxbrli0SharesStandardhttp://www.xbrl.org/2003/instancesharesxbrli0USDUSD$2true0tc_DescriptionOfBusinessDisclosureAbstracttcfalsenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalse1falsefalsefalse00falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherxbrli:stringItemTypestringNo definition available.falsefalseDescription of Business3false0us-gaap_NatureOfOperationsus-gaaptruenadurationNo definition available.falsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalsefalseterselabel1falsefalsefalse00<table style="font-size:10pt; font-family:'Times New Roman',times,serif;"> <tr> <td> 1. Description of Business         Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. ("TCM") is a North American mining company, incorporated under the laws of British Columbia, with vertically integrated molybdenum mining, milling, processing and marketing operations in Canada and the United States ("US"). The US operations include the Thompson Creek Mine ("TC Mine") (mine and mill) in Idaho and the Langeloth Metallurgical Roasting Facility ("Langeloth Facility") in Pennsylvania. The Canadian operation consists of a 75% joint venture interest in the Endako Molybdenum Mine Joint Venture ("Endako Mine") (mine, mill and roaster) in British Columbia. In addition, TCM has two underground molybdenum exploration projects comprised of an option to acquire up to 75% of the Mount Emmons molybdenum property ("Mt. Emmons Property"), located in Colorado, and the 100% owned Davidson molybdenum property ("Davidson Property"), located in British Columbia.         As more fully described in Note 4, on October 20, 2010, TCM acquired all of the issued and outstanding common shares and stock options of Terrane Metals Corp. ("Terrane"), which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of TCM. Terrane currently has interests in four mineral properties in Canada: 100% Mt. Milligan, 100% Berg Property, 43% Maze Lake Property and 51% Howards Pass Property. Mt. Milligan is in the construction and development stage, and the Berg, Maze Lake and Howards Pass properties are in the exploration stage. </td></tr></table> 1. Description of Business         Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. ("TCM") is a North American mining company,falsefalsefalsefalsefalseOtherus-types:textBlockItemTypestringDescribes the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings). Disclosures about the nature of operations need not be quantified; relative importance could be conveyed by use of terms such as "predominately", "about equally", or "major and other". This element is also referred to as "Business Description".Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher AICPA -Name Statement of Position (SOP) -Number 94-6 -Paragraph 10 falsefalseDescription of Business12Description of BusinessUnKnownUnKnownUnKnownUnKnownfalsetrue