Nature of Operations (Details) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions							12 Months Ended
	Dec. 09, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 03, 2019 $ / item	Dec. 02, 2019 $ / item	Dec. 01, 2019 $ / item	Jun. 26, 2019 USD ($) property subsidiary	Aug. 02, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) property	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Shutdown and care and maintenance costs							$ 1,797,000	$ 1,889,000
Variable fee (per tonne) | $ / item		11.00	22.00
Proceeds from sale of assets							3,144,000	5,097,000
Payments to acquire property							38,000	152,000
Remaining deposits payable							$ 1,251,000
Number of exploration properties | property							12
Agreement
Proceeds from sale of assets					$ 22,000,000
Deposit liability					$ 1,500,000
Effective interest rate (as a percent)					3.00%
Agreement termination period.					90 days
Repayments of deposits	$ 257,000
Investment interest rate (as a percent)	11.00%				11.00%
Remaining deposits payable							$ 1,300,000
Agreement | Autlan
Number of assets Purchased | subsidiary					3
Payments to acquire property					$ 1,500,000
Agreement | Autlan | Processing Plants
Number of assets Purchased | property					2
El Quevar Project
Interest acquired (as a percent)							100.00%
Payments to acquire property							$ 1,000,000
Velardena properties
Interest acquired (as a percent)							100.00%
Shutdown and care and maintenance costs							$ 1,700,000	$ 1,900,000
Oxide Plant
Proceeds from lease							5,300,000
Renewal term						2 years
Expected lease proceeds						$ 1,000,000	$ 300,000
Gross proceeds from common stock sale						$ 1,000,000
Common stock issued (in shares) | shares						1.8
Sale price (in dollars per shares) | $ / shares						$ 0.55
Volume weighted average stock price period						30 days
Variable fee (per tonne) | $ / item			11.00	22.00
Termination notice period			150 days	120 days