Consolidated Statements Of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data in Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
REVENUE
Gold revenues	$ 136,313	$ 109,807	$ 267,333	$ 226,313
Cost of sales	116,870	102,525	234,015	210,276
Mine operating margin	19,443	7,282	33,318	16,037
Exploration expense	827	1,569	2,091	2,148
General and administrative expense	4,718	7,252	11,485	14,354
Derivative mark-to-market loss	0	2,430	162	6,679
(Gain)/loss on fair value of convertible debentures	1,145	(6,107)	2,037	(24,292)
Property holding costs	1,336	1,689	3,410	4,363
Foreign exchange loss	1,019	462	1,880	719
Interest expense	3,723	2,112	6,496	4,470
Interest and other income	(129)	(63)	(268)	(102)
Loss on sale of assets	(76)	0	(61)	0
(Gain)/loss on sale of investments	25	2	(22,360)	2
Loss on extinguishment of debt	582	0	582	0
Income/(loss) before income tax	6,273	(2,064)	27,864	7,696
Income tax expense	(2,931)	(3,801)	(15,462)	(8,106)
Net income/(loss)	3,342	(5,865)	12,402	(410)
Net income/(loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	859	(817)	805	(1,290)
Net income/(loss) attributable to Golden Star shareholders	$ 2,483	$ (5,048)	$ 11,597	$ 880
Net income/(loss) per share attributable to Golden Star shareholders
Basic (dollars per share)	$ 0.010	$ (0.020)	$ 0.045	$ 0.003
Diluted (dollars per share)	$ 0.010	$ (0.020)	$ 0.045	$ 0.003
Weighted average shares outstanding (millions) (shares)	258.8	258.6	258.8	258.6
Weighted average shares outstanding-diluted (millions) (shares)	258.9	258.6	258.8	259.2