4. Other Investments

Midas Gold Corp. Combination

In April 2011, Vista completed a combination with Midas Gold, Inc. (the “Combination”). As part of the Combination, each party contributed their respective interests in gold assets in the Yellow Pine-Stibnite District in Idaho to form a new Canadian private company named Midas Gold Corp. (“Midas Gold”). In exchange for the contribution of its equity interests in Idaho Gold Holding Company, the holding company in which we held our Yellow Pine assets, Vista Gold U.S., Inc. (“Vista US”) was issued 30,402,615 common shares in the capital of Midas Gold. Concurrently with the Combination, we purchased 1,400,000 Midas Gold common shares for an aggregate purchase price of $3,632 as part of a Midas Gold private placement. Following completion of these transactions, Vista holds a total of 31,802,615 Midas Gold shares.

Upon initial recognition of its investment in the Midas Gold shares, Vista elected to apply the fair value option, and as such, the investment is recorded at fair value in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Subsequent changes in fair value are recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Income/(Loss) and Comprehensive Income/(Loss) in the period in which they occur. The difference between the fair value of the 30,402,615 Midas Gold shares and the carrying value of our Yellow Pine assets has been recorded as a gain on disposal of mineral property given that Vista ceased to have a controlling financial interest in the Yellow Pine gold project upon completion of the Combination.

The Combination with Midas Gold, Inc. was a tax-free reorganization for U.S. tax purposes. However, upon completion of the Combination, Vista US received Midas Gold shares with a fair value that was determined to be $78,872. The corresponding estimated deferred tax expense of $29,675 at the time of the Combination exceeded the valuation allowance of $6,086 for Vista US, and the valuation allowance was released.

The following table summarizes our investment in Midas Gold.


		Years Ended December 31,
		2012		2011

Fair value at beginning of period	$	119,851	$	-
30,402,615 shares received in the Combination		-		78,872
1,400,000 shares purchased		-		3,632
Unrealized gain/(loss) based on the fair value at the end of the period		(50,363)		37,347
Fair value at end of period	$	69,489	$	119,851

Estimated tax benefit/(expense) for the period	$	19,576	$	(44,192)

Midas Gold shares held at the end of the period		31,802,615		31,802,615

In 2012, we reclassified our investment in Midas Gold from long-term assets to current assets as the restrictions on the sale of our Midas Gold shares expire in July 2013.

As of December 31, 2012 Midas had 114,794,136 Common Shares outstanding of which Vista owns approximately 28%. Summarized financial information for Midas Gold as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, which are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards is as follows. See Schedule A for the complete set of consolidated financial statements for Midas Gold.


		December 31, 2012		December 31, 2011

Total current assets	$	19,864	$	37,341
Total non-current assets		175,957		119,126
Total current liabilities		5,108		3,654
Total non-current liabilities		380		563
Total equity		190,333		152,250


		Year ended December 31,
		2012		2011

Operating expense	$	7,813	$	11,268
Net loss		7,180		13,438