Noncontrolling Interest (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Mar. 28, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]	Mar. 28, 2012 Stockholders' Equity [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Noncontrolling Interest [Member]	Mar. 28, 2012 Stillwater Canada, Inc. [Member]
Noncontrolling Interest [Line Items]
Noncontrolling interest purchased by third party							25.00%
Cash paid for 25% interest in SCI by Mitsubishi Corp							$ 81,250,000
Amount contributed to SCI for initial cash call by Mitsubishi Corp							13,600,000
Percentage of interest acquired	25.00%
Maximum PGM production purchase percentage	100.00%
Transaction closing date	April 10, 2012
Transaction costs included within equity					1,100,000
Noncontrolling interest		51,761,000	0			51,761,000
Issuance of noncontrolling interest				42,500,000
Expenses incurred for issuance of noncontrolling interest				$ 1,100,000