CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares
REVENUE:
Gold and silver sales	$ 67,465	$ 60,388	$ 72,956
Other revenue	259
Total Revenue	67,724	60,388	72,956
COSTS AND EXPENSES:
Production costs applicable to sales	45,180	28,133	34,607
Mine development costs	3,837	3,866	1,169
Exploration costs	17,714	7,959	8,798
Property holding costs	3,879	3,536	4,336
General and administrative costs	18,872	12,734	12,045
Loss (income) from investment in Minera Santa Cruz S.A., net of amortization (note 7)	44	(12,951)	(2,414)
Depreciation	1,453	1,169	942
Revision of estimates and accretion of asset reclamation obligations (note 8)	2,061	595	429
Impairment of investment in Minera Santa Cruz S.A. (note 7)			11,777
Impairment of mineral property interests and property and equipment (notes 5 and 6)	711		50,600
Total costs and expenses	93,751	45,041	122,289
Operating (loss) income	(26,027)	15,347	(49,333)
OTHER (EXPENSE) INCOME:
Interest and other (expense) income:	(938)	835	2,404
Gain on sale of assets	11	24	13
Gain on sale of marketable equity securities (note 3)	840	22
Other-than-temporary impairment on marketable equity securities (note 3)	(356)	(882)
Unrealized (loss) gain on derivatives (note 3)	(227)	1,379
Foreign currency (loss) gain	694	581	1,906
Total other income	24	1,959	4,323
(Loss) Income before income and mining taxes	(26,003)	17,306	(45,010)
Income and mining tax recovery (note 9)	15,369	3,749	24,560
Net (loss) income	(10,634)	21,055	(20,450)
OTHER COMPREHENSIVE (LOSS) INCOME:
Reclassification of unrealized gain on marketable securities disposed of during the period, net of taxes (note 3)	(840)
Other-than-temporary impairment on marketable equity securities (note 3)	356	882
Unrealized gain (loss) on marketable equity securities, net of $0.5 million, $0.5 million and $nil, tax benefit, respectively	1,818	1,609	(949)
Comprehensive (loss) income	$ (9,300)	$ 23,546	$ (21,399)
Net (loss) income per share (note 12):
Basic (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ (0.03)	$ 0.07	$ (0.07)
Diluted (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ (0.03)	$ 0.07	$ (0.07)
Weighted average common shares outstanding (thousands) (note 12):
Basic (in shares) | shares	313,887	298,772	300,341
Diluted (in shares) | shares	313,887	300,474	300,341
Return of capital distribution declared per common share (note 10) | $ / shares	0.010	0.005	0.010