Long-term Debt Narrative (Details)	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended																				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 Senior Notes Maturing 2010 [Member] [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 US credit line [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Canada credit line [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Letter of Credit [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Chilean Bank Loan [Member] payments	Dec. 31, 2011 Brazilian Term Credit Facility Maturing 2017 [Member] USD ($) payments	Dec. 31, 2010 Brazilian Term Credit Facility Maturing 2017 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Notes Payable 2012 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Senior Notes Payable 2012 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 1997 Senior Notes Payable 2012 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Notes Payable 2013 Thru 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Senior Notes Payable 2013 Thru 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Non Recourse Notes Payable 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Non Recourse Notes Payable 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Secured Notes Maturing 2017 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Senior Secured Notes Maturing 2017 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Chilian Term Credit Facility Maturing 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Chilian Term Credit Facility Maturing 2019 [Member] CLP	Dec. 31, 2010 Chilian Term Credit Facility Maturing 2019 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Secured Notes Maturing 2017 plus warrants [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior secured notes 2017 per unit [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Notes Maturing 2010 [Member] [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Warrant [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 Warrant [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2009 Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Notes Receivable, due 2012 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Senior Notes Receivable, due 2012 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Notes 2018 [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Senior Notes 2018 [Member] USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Fair value of debt														$ 122,000,000	$ 126,000,000			$ 243,000,000	$ 263,000,000
Amount of loan issuance													47,900,000	348,600,000		368,700,000		375,000,000		39,000,000	943,543.7391			1,000
Notes payable	7,900,000	0							10,000,000	0	7,900,000	7,900,000		112,000,000	112,000,000	368,700,000	368,700,000	189,600,000	183,500,000	40,500,000		42,300,000
Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable, Net	533,500,000	533,500,000																											9,900,000	9,900,000		410,000,000
Maturity in 2013	97,000,000													90,000,000
Maturity in 2018	597,900,000													22,000,000
Notes receivable used as collateral on loan														113,700,000																	410,000,000
Amount of indebtedness liable for in event of default of notes receivable collateral														10.00%		10.00%
Debt and Capital Leases Disclosures [Text Block]	375000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage									6.65%		0.00%					0.00%		13.00%		3.90%	3.90%				8.875%
Required Debt To Equity Ratio Maximum	1
Class of Warrant or Right, Number of Securities Called by Warrants or Rights	3,900,000		18,395,963															18,395,963
Class of Warrant or Right, Exercise Price of Warrants or Rights																										$ 1.39	$ 1.39
Long-term Debt	729,100,000	714,700,000																281,000,000							126,600,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Effective Percentage																		19.10%					19.70%
Repayment of debt																		112,600,000						0	126,000,000
percent of debt redeemed																		35.00%
Debt instrument, face amount at repayment																		131,300,000
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues	5,000,000	5,100,000																										20,700,000
Gains (Losses) on Extinguishment of Debt	0	0	(20,700,000)	21,100,000
Amortization of Financing Costs and Discounts	2,600,000	3,100,000	3,000,000	(3,700,000)
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	100,000,000				60,000,000	10,000,000
Required Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio When Unused Borrowing Capacity Is Below 15 Million	1.1
excess of adjusted borrowing base	15,000,000
Debt Instrument, Unused Borrowing Capacity, Amount	87,300,000
Minimum Required Percent Of Cash Collateral To Stated Amount Of Letters Of Credit	105.00%
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount	9,900,000
Restricted cash	12,900,000	31,100,000					10,700,000
Estimated Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio	0.2
Ratio of Indebtedness to Net Capital	2.5
Required Ebitda to Financial Costs Minimum	3
Number of Future Semi Annual Payments								16	10
Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate	550.00%	570.00%
Interest Paid, Net	$ 56,600,000	$ 57,000,000	$ 63,700,000