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Other Investments | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2014
Other Investments [Abstract] |
Other Investments | 4. Other Investments Midas Gold Corp. Combination In April 2011, Vista completed a combination with Midas Gold, Inc. (the “Combination”), creating Midas Gold Corp., whereby Vista was issued 30,402,615 Midas Gold Shares. Concurrently with the Combination, we purchased 1,400,000 Midas Gold Shares for an aggregate purchase price of $3,632 as part of a private placement. Following completion of these transactions, Vista held a total of 31,802,615 Midas Gold Shares representing 24.9% of the Midas Gold Shares outstanding as of December 31, 2013. During February 2014, we sold 16,000,000 Midas Gold Shares, for gross proceeds of C$12,800 ($11,640), reducing the total Midas Gold Shares we own to 15,802,615 or approximately 11.2% of the Midas Gold Shares outstanding, on a non-dilutive basis, as of September 30, 2014. This sale resulted in a realized gain on other investments of $155 based on the realized value at the time of the sale compared to the fair value of the Midas Gold Shares at December 31, 2013, less costs to sell. In addition, during February 2014, we entered into a lockup agreement whereby we agreed not to sell any of our remaining Midas Gold Shares until after February 15, 2015. 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 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Subsequent changes in fair value are recorded in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income/(Loss) and Comprehensive Income/(Loss) in the period in which they occur. The following table summarizes our investment in Midas Gold Shares as at September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013.
|  |  | September 30, 2014 |  | December 31, 2013
Fair value at beginning of period |  | $ | 20,990 | $ | 69,489
Sale of Midas Gold Shares, net of costs to sell |  |  | (10,560) |  | -
Unrealized loss based on the fair value at the end of the period |  |  | (2,370) |  | (48,499)
Fair value at end of period |  | $ | 8,060 | $ | 20,990
Estimated tax benefit/(expense) for the period |  | $ | 821 | $ | 17,915
Midas Gold Shares held at the end of the period |  |  | 15,802,615 |  | 31,802,615
In 2014, we reclassified our investment in Midas Gold Shares from non-current assets to current assets as the shares were no longer subject to a pledge as debt security (Note 7). The change in the presentation of the Company’s current and non-current deferred tax balances during 2014 is primarily attributable to the re-classification, from non-current to current, of U.S. deferred tax liabilities associated with our investment in Midas Gold Shares. The classification of the deferred tax balances was also impacted by the sale of a portion of our Midas Gold Shares, as discussed above. The sale of Midas Gold Shares by us resulted in a reduction of current deferred tax assets for U.S. net operating loss carry forwards and of non-current U.S. deferred tax liabilities associated with our Midas Gold Shares investment. As we elected the fair value method to account for our investment in Midas Gold Shares, we are required to provide summarized information for the period in which we held a greater than 20% interest in the outstanding Midas Gold Shares. As a result, summarized financial information for Midas Gold as of December 31, 2013 and for the nine months ended September 30, 2013, which are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards is as follows.
|  | December 31, 2013
Total current assets | $ | 14,742
Total non-current assets |  | 186,673
Total current liabilities |  | 2,432
Total non-current liabilities |  | 919
Total equity |  | 198,064
|  | Twelve months ended December 31, 2013 |  |  | Nine months ended September 30, 2013 |
Operating expense | $ | 3,908 |  | $ | 3,107 |
Net loss |  | 3,796 |  |  | 3,085 |

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