Document And Entity Information - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Apr. 17, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	Applied Minerals, Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0000008328
Trading Symbol	amnl
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		150,388,549
Entity Public Float			$ 4,354,542
Document Type	10-K/A
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	The registrant is amending the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 in response to an SEC comment letter. In response to that comment letter, the registrant is (i) deleting information about resource studies that do not qualify as final bankable feasibility study under the SEC's Industry Guide 7, (ii) indicating that the Company has no plans for further exploration on the Dragon Mine property in the next year, and (iii) disclosing in the section "The Sales Process" that prices for its products are negotiated and that there is no established market prices for its products in the markets into which the Company is selling.