Investment in Marketable Securities

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]

INVESTMENTS

INVESTMENTS

The Company classifies the marketable securities in which it invests as available-for-sale securities. Such securities are measured at fair market value in the financial statements with unrealized gains or losses recorded in other comprehensive income (loss). Please see Note 4 - FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENT for additional information on fair value classification of marketable securities. At the time securities are sold or otherwise disposed of, gains or losses are included in net income. Gross realized gains and losses are based on cost, net of discount or premium, of investments sold and there were no losses realized during the first three months of 2013 or 2012.

The equity securities reflected in the table below consist of equity securities of silver and gold exploration and development companies that the Company purchased. The following table summarizes the Company’s available-for-sale securities on hand as of March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012 (in thousands):

	Investments in marketable securities
	Cost		Gross Unrealized Losses			Gross Unrealized Gains		Estimated Fair Value
Marketable securities at March 31, 2013	$	34,751	$	(13,072	)	$	1,819	$	23,498
Marketable securities at December 31, 2012	$	34,786	$	(10,443	)	$	2,722	$	27,065

The following table summarizes the gross unrealized losses on investment securities for which other-than-temporary impairments have not been recognized and the fair values of those securities, aggregated by the length of time the individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position, at March 31, 2013 (in thousands):

	Less than twelve months					Twelve months or more					Total
	Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Fair Value
Marketable equity securities	$	(1,270	)	$	3,861	$	(11,802	)	$	10,874	$	(13,072	)	$	14,735

In the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012, the Company recognized an unrealized loss of $3.5 million and an unrealized gain of $0.4 million, respectively, in other comprehensive income (loss). The Company performs a quarterly assessment on each of its marketable securities with unrealized losses to determine if the security is other than temporarily impaired. The Company's management team uses industry knowledge and expertise to evaluate each investment and has determined that unrealized losses on seven investments it currently holds are not other than temporary based on a review of the potential for each issuer of securities held by the Company. The Company has the intent and ability to hold these investments until they recover or increase in value.

In addition, the Company had $1.5 million and $1.0 million of short-term investments at March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively. These investments are held with various banks and all have maturity dates of less than one year.