Note 11 - Business Segments and Significant Customers (Tables)

6 Months Ended

12 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Dec. 31, 2012

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Schedule Of Sales Contributed By Each Segment Table Text Block

	Year Ended December 31,
	2012			2011			2010
Greens Creek		100.0	%		71.8	%		74.8	%
Lucky Friday		—	%		28.2	%		25.2	%
		100	%		100	%		100	%

Schedule of Segment Reporting Information, by Segment [Table Text Block]

	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2013			2012			2013			2012
Net sales to unaffiliated customers:
Greens Creek	$	70,082		$	67,023		$	142,731		$	157,923
Lucky Friday	$	5,128		$	(4	)	$	8,929		$	249
Casa Berardi	$	10,120		$	—		$	10,120		$	—
	$	85,330		$	67,019		$	161,780		$	158,172
Income (loss) from operations:
Greens Creek	$	9,802		$	23,313		$	36,991		$	70,695
Lucky Friday		(2,757	)		(6,498	)		(6,604	)		(12,441	)
Casa Berardi		(13,356	)		—			(13,356	)		—
Other		(26,311	)		(19,296	)		(51,866	)		(35,299	)
	$	(32,622	)	$	(2,481	)	$	(34,835	)	$	22,955

	2012			2011			2010
Net sales to unaffiliated customers:
Greens Creek	$	320,895		$	342,906		$	313,318
Lucky Friday		248			134,728			105,495
	$	321,143		$	477,634		$	418,813
Income (loss) from operations:
Greens Creek	$	138,245		$	181,116		$	138,973
Lucky Friday		(25,179	)		75,608			48,639
Other		(75,200	)		(59,079	)		(239,167	)
	$	37,866		$	197,645		$	(51,555	)
Capital additions (including non-cash additions):
Greens Creek	$	62,184		$	41,657		$	18,280
Lucky Friday		55,998			60,454			54,370
Other		11,760			35,274			2,089
	$	129,942		$	137,385		$	74,739
Depreciation, depletion and amortization:
Greens Creek	$	43,522		$	41,013		$	51,671
Lucky Friday		—			6,053			8,340
	$	43,522		$	47,066		$	60,011
Other significant non-cash items:
Greens Creek	$	4,037		$	2,326		$	17,829
Lucky Friday		92			14			5,053
Other		33,922			31,470			57,651
	$	38,051		$	33,810		$	80,533
Identifiable assets:
Greens Creek	$	741,666		$	729,289		$	740,573
Lucky Friday		226,196			213,285			170,928
Other		410,428			453,516			470,992
	$	1,378,290		$	1,396,090		$	1,382,493

Schedule of Revenue from External Customers Attributed to Foreign Countries by Geographic Area [Table Text Block]

	2012		2011		2010
United States	$	25,438	$	24,409	$	24,708
Canada		34,441		240,569		124,862
Mexico		—		—		16,258
Japan		70,371		60,963		62,740
Korea		120,106		92,919		94,114
China		72,133		51,635		73,257
Belgium		—		—		25,907
Total, excluding gains/losses on forward contracts	$	322,489	$	470,495	$	421,846

Schedule of Disclosure on Geographic Areas, Long-Lived Assets in Individual Foreign Countries by Country [Table Text Block]

	2012		2011
United States	$	996,405	$	923,040
Canada		198		99
Mexico		56		73
	$	996,659	$	923,212

Schedule of Revenue by Major Customers by Reporting Segments [Table Text Block]

	Year Ended December 31,
	2012			2011			2010
Teck Metals Ltd.		10.7	%		51.1	%		29.6	%
Korea Zinc		37.2	%		18.4	%		20.7	%
Trafigura AG		22.4	%		12.4	%		17.4	%
MS Zinc		12.3	%		6.9	%		7.0	%

	June 30, 2013		December 31, 2012
Identifiable assets:
Greens Creek	$	747,813	$	741,666
Lucky Friday		217,413		226,196
Casa Berardi		891,194		—
Other		416,035		410,428
	$	2,272,455	$	1,378,290