Note 11 - Business Segments and Significant Customers (Tables)

9 Months Ended

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

Dec. 31, 2013

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Schedules of Concentration of Risk, by Risk Factor [Table Text Block]

	Year Ended December 31,
	2013			2012			2011
Greens Creek		68.8	%		100.0	%		71.8	%
Lucky Friday		11.6	%		—	%		28.2	%
Casa Berardi	19.6		%		—	%		—	%
		100	%		100	%		100	%

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

	2013			2012			2011
Net sales to unaffiliated customers:
Greens Creek	$	263,263		$	320,895		$	342,906
Lucky Friday		44,204			248			134,728
Casa Berardi		75,122			—			—
	$	382,589		$	321,143		$	477,634
Income (loss) from operations:
Greens Creek	$	62,178		$	138,245		$	181,116
Lucky Friday		(3,563	)		(25,179	)		75,608
Casa Berardi		(15,708	)		—			—
Other		(75,301	)		(75,200	)		(59,079	)
	$	(32,394	)	$	37,866		$	197,645
Capital additions (including non-cash additions):
Greens Creek	$	57,119		$	62,184		$	41,657
Lucky Friday		55,902			55,998			60,454
Casa Berardi		41,425			—			—
Other		8,162			11,760			35,274
	$	162,608		$	129,942		$	137,385
Depreciation, depletion and amortization:
Greens Creek	$	55,265		$	43,522		$	41,013
Lucky Friday		7,833			—			6,053
Casa Berardi		18,030			—			—
	$	81,128		$	43,522		$	47,066
Other significant non-cash items:
Greens Creek	$	1,961		$	4,037		$	2,326
Lucky Friday		96			92			14
Casa Berardi		474			—			—
Other		1,512			33,922			31,470
	$	4,043		$	38,051		$	33,810
Identifiable assets:
Greens Creek	$	744,027		$	741,666		$	729,289
Lucky Friday		313,793			226,196			213,285
Casa Berardi		821,058			—			—
Other		353,241			410,428			453,516
	$	2,232,119		$	1,378,290		$	1,396,090

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

	2013		2012		2011
United States	$	22,361	$	25,438	$	24,409
Canada		170,632		34,441		240,569
Japan		50,039		70,371		60,963
Korea		86,035		120,106		92,919
China		50,479		72,133		51,635
Total, excluding gains/losses on forward contracts	$	379,546	$	322,489	$	470,495

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

	2013		2012
United States	$	1,053,374	$	996,405
Canada		738,172		198
Mexico		55		56
	$	1,791,601	$	996,659

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2013			2012			2011
Teck Metals Ltd.		25.0	%		10.7	%		51.1	%
Korea Zinc		22.5	%		37.2	%		18.4	%
Trafigura AG		8.8	%		22.4	%		12.4	%
MS Zinc		7.5	%		12.3	%		6.9	%
CIBC		10.9	%		—	%		—	%