Note 11 - Business Segments and Significant Customers (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015		2014		2013
Greens Creek	51.4	%	49.0	%	68.8	%
Lucky Friday	14.9	%	17.9	%	11.6	%
Casa Berardi	33.7	%	33.1	%	19.6	%
San Sebastian	—	%	—	%	—	%
	100	%	100	%	100	%

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

	2015			2014			2013
Net sales to unaffiliated customers:
Greens Creek	$	227,833		$	245,175		$	263,263
Lucky Friday		66,302			89,757			44,204
Casa Berardi		149,432			165,849			75,122
San Sebastian		—			—			—
	$	443,567		$	500,781		$	382,589
Income (loss) from operations:
Greens Creek	$	26,536		$	39,758		$	62,178
Lucky Friday		868			21,501			(3,563	)
Casa Berardi		(1,557	)		11,828			(15,708	)
San Sebastian		(9,269	)		(5,780	)		(6,445	)
Other		(52,189	)		(45,679	)		(68,856	)
	$	(35,611	)	$	21,628		$	(32,394	)
Capital additions (including non-cash additions):
Greens Creek	$	45,962		$	31,476		$	57,119
Lucky Friday		60,020			52,193			55,902
Casa Berardi		35,302			48,615			41,425
San Sebastian		4,623			—			—
Other		14,809			18,801			8,162
	$	160,716		$	151,085		$	162,608
Depreciation, depletion and amortization:
Greens Creek	$	56,553		$	63,505		$	55,265
Lucky Friday		11,262			9,431			7,833
Casa Berardi		43,674			38,198			18,030
San Sebastian		—			—			—
	$	111,489		$	111,134		$	81,128
Other significant non-cash items:
Greens Creek	$	2,886		$	2,807		$	1,961
Lucky Friday		72			72			96
Casa Berardi		2,229			847			474
San Sebastian		13			—			—
Other		66,004			506			1,512
	$	71,204		$	4,232		$	4,043
Identifiable assets:
Greens Creek	$	698,265		$	704,121		$	744,027
Lucky Friday		393,338			356,482			313,793
Casa Berardi		779,423			800,961			821,058
San Sebastian		22,238			1,529			1,491
Other		328,661			398,971			351,750
	$	2,221,925		$	2,262,064		$	2,232,119

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

	2015		2014		2013
United States	$	17,862	$	22,200	$	22,361
Canada		275,771		295,027		170,632
Japan		38,835		58,466		50,039
Korea		66,293		70,548		86,035
China		38,611		53,067		50,479
Total, excluding gains/losses on forward contracts	$	437,372	$	499,308	$	379,546

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

	2015		2014
United States	$	1,150,521	$	1,081,699
Canada		741,612		749,810
Mexico		4,678		55
	$	1,896,811	$	1,831,564

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

	Year Ended December 31,
	2015			2014			2013
Teck Metals Ltd.		22.5	%		25.8	%		25.0	%
Korea Zinc		16.0	%		14.1	%		22.5	%
CIBC		17.6	%		17.0	%		10.9	%
Mitsui		10.2	%		15.8	%		8.4	%