XML 107 R94.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.1.9
Goodwill - Additional Information (Detail)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
USD ($)
Dec. 31, 2013
Dec. 31, 2014
South Africa Rand
Dec. 31, 2013
South Africa Rand
Dec. 31, 2014
U.S. Dollar
Dec. 31, 2013
U.S. Dollar
Goodwill [Line Items]            
Impairment to the goodwill $ 0us-gaap_GoodwillImpairmentLoss          
Long-term gold price     420,000gfi_LongTermGoldPrice
/ us-gaap_CurrencyAxis
= currency_ZAR		 400,000gfi_LongTermGoldPrice
/ us-gaap_CurrencyAxis
= currency_ZAR		 1,300gfi_LongTermGoldPrice
/ us-gaap_CurrencyAxis
= currency_USD		 1,300gfi_LongTermGoldPrice
/ us-gaap_CurrencyAxis
= currency_USD
Life of mine (in years) 72 years 73 years        
Nominal discount rate - lower limit 12.90%gfi_DiscountRateUsedInGoodwillImpairmentTestingLowerLimit 10.90%gfi_DiscountRateUsedInGoodwillImpairmentTestingLowerLimit        
Nominal discount rate - upper limit 14.10%gfi_DiscountRateUsedInGoodwillImpairmentTestingUpperLimit 12.30%gfi_DiscountRateUsedInGoodwillImpairmentTestingUpperLimit        
Market value for resource with infrastructure 63.7gfi_MarketValueForResourceInfrastructure 50.0gfi_MarketValueForResourceInfrastructure