Total number of common shares of an entity that have been sold or granted to shareholders (includes common shares that were issued, repurchased and remain in the treasury). These shares represent capital invested by the firm's shareholders and owners, and may be all or only a portion of the number of shares authorized. Shares issued include shares outstanding and shares held in the treasury.

Name:	us-gaap_CommonStockSharesIssued
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

Capital Stock (Narrative) (Details) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended							12 Months Ended		132 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2012 USD ($) item	Apr. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 CAD	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Warrants [Member]	Jul. 31, 2012 Warrants [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2012 Compensation Warrants [Member] USD ($)
Proceeds from issuance of common shares	$ 11,500	$ 265		$ 1,100	$ 733	$ 30,870	29,700	$ 733		$ 733
Common shares issued (in shares)		115,217		478,261	225,000	9,000,000	9,000,000
Warrants issued (in shares)	4,757,941							4,757,941		4,757,941
Exercises of compensation options (in shares)					225,000			225,000
Exercises of compensation warrants (in shares)		115,217		478,261
Private placement number of units sold			5,000,000
Private placement proceeds from sale of units gross			15,000
Private placement, number of common share in each unit			1										1
Private placement, number of common share purchase warrant in each unit			0.5
Private placement, warrant exercisable period			24 months									24 months
Private placement price per common share												$ 3.60	$ 3.18
Public Offering, number of units sold	4,182,550
Over-allotment option units issued	545,550
Public Offering, price per common share						3.30	3.30				3.30
Public Offering, number of common shares in each unit	1
Public Offering, number of common share purchase warrants in each unit	0.5
Public Offering, warrant exercisable period	24 months					24 months	24 months
Public Offering, shares per compensation option						1	1
Compensation Options Issued to Underwriters			166,667			450,000	450,000		450,000
Fair Value of Options Issued in Equity Placement						588
Net proceeds from public offering after legal and regulatory costs						28,984
Number of shares placed by brokers			3,333,334
Equity issuance commissions and other costs	$ 1,258		$ 770
Compensation options exercised, shares								32,500	354,984