Nature Of Operations And Basis Of Presentation	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2013
Nature Of Operations And Basis Of Presentation [Abstract]
Nature Of Operations And Basis Of Presentation	1. Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation Vista Gold Corp. and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Vista,” the “Company,” the “Corporation,” “we,” “our” or “us”) operate in the gold mining industry. We are focused on the evaluation, acquisition, exploration and advancement of gold exploration and potential development projects, which may lead to gold production or value adding strategic transactions such as earn-in right agreements or leases to third parties, joint venture arrangements with other mining companies, or outright sales of assets for cash and/or other consideration. 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 technical studies resulting in changes to the operating assumptions underlying previous engineering work. We are currently conducting a strategic review of our portfolio of gold assets, focused on our Mt. Todd gold project in Northern Territory, Australia. Our portfolio of assets also includes approximately 24.9% of the common shares of Midas Gold Corp. (TSX: MAX), a company exploring for gold and developing the Golden Meadows project in the Yellow Pine-Stibnite District in Idaho; the Guadalupe de los Reyes gold/silver project in Mexico (a preliminary economic assessment on this project was completed in March 2013); the Awak Mas gold project in Indonesia (One Asia Resources Ltd. working to earn an 80% interest in this project); the Long Valley gold project in California and a royalty on the Amayapampa gold project in Bolivia (project being advanced by LionGold Corp Ltd). These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts, which are based on information available as of the date of the financial statements. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments, which are of a normal and recurring nature, necessary to present fairly in all material respects the financial results for the period presented. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2013 or for any future period. The December 31, 2012 condensed consolidated balance sheets were derived from audited financial statements, but do not include all disclosures required in the annual financial statements by U.S. GAAP.

1. Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation

Vista Gold Corp. and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Vista,” the “Company,” the “Corporation,” “we,” “our” or “us”) operate in the gold mining industry. We are focused on the evaluation, acquisition, exploration and advancement of gold exploration and potential development projects, which may lead to gold production or value adding strategic transactions such as earn-in right agreements or leases to third parties, joint venture arrangements with other mining companies, or outright sales of assets for cash and/or other consideration. 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 technical studies resulting in changes to the operating assumptions underlying previous engineering work.

We are currently conducting a strategic review of our portfolio of gold assets, focused on our Mt. Todd gold project in Northern Territory, Australia. Our portfolio of assets also includes approximately 24.9% of the common shares of Midas Gold Corp. (TSX: MAX), a company exploring for gold and developing the Golden Meadows project in the Yellow Pine-Stibnite District in Idaho; the Guadalupe de los Reyes gold/silver project in Mexico (a preliminary economic assessment on this project was completed in March 2013); the Awak Mas gold project in Indonesia (One Asia Resources Ltd. working to earn an 80% interest in this project); the Long Valley gold project in California and a royalty on the Amayapampa gold project in Bolivia (project being advanced by LionGold Corp Ltd).

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts, which are based on information available as of the date of the financial statements. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments, which are of a normal and recurring nature, necessary to present fairly in all material respects the financial results for the period presented. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2013 or for any future period. The December 31, 2012 condensed consolidated balance sheets were derived from audited financial statements, but do not include all disclosures required in the annual financial statements by U.S. GAAP.