Debt (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) oz	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) oz	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Percentage of Actual Gold Production	50.00%
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Current	$ 11,775		$ 11,775		$ 17,498
Debt	534,211		534,211		451,048
Interest expenses incurred for various debt instruments
Interest Paid on Convertible Notes due 2028	6	$ 43	49	$ 130
Interest Paid on Senior Notes due 2021	8,523	8,809	25,608	24,132
Interest paid on short-term credit agreement	0	0	326	0
Interest paid on term loan due 2020	2,277	0	2,425	0
San Bartolomé Lines of Credit	101	0	665	0
Line of Credit Facility, Commitment Fee Amount	0	0	0	179
Write off revolver costs, interest expense	0	0	0	3,035
Interest Paid on Capital Leases	229	334	799	726
Interest Expense, Debt	8	0	8	0
Accretion of Franco Nevada royalty obligation	1,642	2,545	5,444	8,639
Debt Issuance Cost	690	415	1,604	1,333
Amortization of debt issuance costs	104	107	313	252
Capitalized interest	(926)	(423)	(2,670)	(942)
Total interest expense, net of capitalized interest	12,446	$ 11,616	33,945	$ 36,980
San Bartolome Letter of Credit Facility [Member]
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Debt	$ 7,419		$ 7,419		$ 10,304
3.25% Convertible Senior Notes due March 2028 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage	3.25%		3.25%		3.25%
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Debt Instrument, Face Amount					$ 0
Senior Notes due 2021 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage	7.875%		7.875%		7.875%
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Debt	$ 426,533		$ 426,533
Palmarejo gold production royalty [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Effective Percentage	30.50%		30.50%
Capital Lease Obligations [Member]
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Debt	$ 5,990		$ 5,990		$ 13,141
Palmarejo gold production royalty [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Minimum Obligation Paid in Monthly Payments | oz	4,167		4,167
Annual Inflation Compounding Adjustment	1.00%		1.00%
Short Term Credit Agreement [Member]
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Current	$ 1,000		$ 1,000		0
Debt	93,557		93,557		0
3.25% Convertible Senior Notes due March 2028 [Member]
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Current	0		0		5,334
Senior Notes due 2021 [Member]
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Current	0		0		0
Capital Lease Obligations [Member]
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Current	9,052		9,052		7,683
San Bartolome Letter of Credit Facility [Member]
Long term debt and capital lease obligations
Current	$ 1,723		$ 1,723		$ 4,481