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Contingent Liabilities - Additional Information (Detail) | 0 Months Ended |  | 12 Months Ended |
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Oct. 17, 2013 Application | Dec. 31, 2014 South Deep Gold Mine | Dec. 31, 2014 Silicosis [Member] USD ($) | Dec. 31, 2014 Silicosis [Member] ZAR | Dec. 31, 2013 Silicosis [Member] Application | Dec. 31, 2012 Silicosis [Member] Application | Aug. 21, 2008 Randgold and Exploration Summons USD ($) | Aug. 21, 2008 Randgold and Exploration Summons ZAR
Loss Contingencies [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Randgold and Exploration summons, highest claims |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 12,000,000,000 gfi_LossContingencyRangeOfPossibleHighestLossMaximum / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_RandgoldAndExplorationSummonsMember
Randgold and Exploration summons, lowest claims |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 11,000,000,000 gfi_LossContingencyRangeOfPossibleHighestLossMinimum / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_RandgoldAndExplorationSummonsMember
Randgold and Exploration summons, claims |  |  |  |  |  |  | 1,000,000,000 gfi_LossContingencyPossibleHighestLoss / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_RandgoldAndExplorationSummonsMember |
Randgold and Exploration summons, alternative claims |  |  |  |  |  |  | 45,000,000 us-gaap_LossContingencyEstimateOfPossibleLoss / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_RandgoldAndExplorationSummonsMember | 521,000,000 us-gaap_LossContingencyEstimateOfPossibleLoss / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_RandgoldAndExplorationSummonsMember
Ownership Interests, percent |  | 50.00%gfi_PercentageOfOwnershipInterests / us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis = gfi_SouthDeepGoldMineMember |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of court applications | 2 gfi_NumberOfCourtApplications |  |  |  | 2 gfi_NumberOfCourtApplications / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_SilicosisMember | 2 gfi_NumberOfCourtApplications / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_SilicosisMember |  |
Number of consolidated court applications | 1 gfi_NumberOfConsolidatedCourtApplications |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Plaintiffs claim amount |  |  | $ 2,200,000 us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_SilicosisMember | 25,000,000 us-gaap_LossContingencyDamagesSoughtValue / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_SilicosisMember |  |  |  |
Interest rate |  |  | 15.50%gfi_LossContingencyInterestRate / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_SilicosisMember | 15.50%gfi_LossContingencyInterestRate / us-gaap_LossContingenciesByNatureOfContingencyAxis = gfi_SilicosisMember |  |  |  |

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- Definition Interest rate to be used to calculate possible interest payable on amount of damages claimed by the plaintiff in the legal matter. + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | gfi_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Loss contingency, range of possible highest loss. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | gfi_LossContingencyPossibleHighestLoss
Namespace Prefix: | gfi_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

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- Definition The estimated maximum amount of possible loss for the highest claims from the contingency. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | gfi_LossContingencyRangeOfPossibleHighestLossMaximum
Namespace Prefix: | gfi_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
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- Definition The estimated minimum amount of possible loss for the highest claims from the contingency. + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | gfi_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
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- Definition Number of consolidated court applications. + References No definition available. + Details
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Balance Type: | na
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- Definition Number of Court Applications + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | gfi_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Percentage stake in a subsidiary. + References No definition available. + Details
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Namespace Prefix: | gfi_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

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- Details
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Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition The value (monetary amount) of the award the plaintiff seeks in the legal matter. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14326-108349 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14557-108349 + Details
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- Definition Reflects the estimated amount of loss from the specified contingency as of the balance sheet date. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14435-108349 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25496072&loc=d3e14557-108349 + Details
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