XML 37 R7.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.3.0.15

Nature of Operations	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011
Nature of Operations [Abstract]
Nature of Operations	1.           Nature of Operations Vista Gold Corp. and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Vista,” the “Corporation,” “we,” “our” or “us”) operate in the mining industry and are focused on the evaluation, acquisition and exploration of gold exploration and potential development projects, which may lead to gold production, as well as the realization of market value of our assets. As such, we are considered an Exploration Stage Enterprise. Our approach to acquisitions of gold projects has generally been to seek projects within political jurisdictions with well-established mining, land ownership and tax laws, which have adequate drilling and geological data to support the completion of a third-party review of the geological data and to complete an estimate of the gold mineralization. In addition, we look for opportunities to improve the value of our gold projects through exploration drilling, and/or reengineering the operating assumptions underlying previous engineering work. We are continuing to move our more advanced projects through technical, engineering and feasibility studies in preparation for mine development so that production decisions can be made on those projects.

X

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Name Statement of Position (SOP)

-Publisher AICPA

-Number 94-6

-Paragraph 10

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.



Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 275

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6003-108592

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NatureOfOperations
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_OrganizationConsolidationAndPresentationOfFinancialStatementsAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration