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Other Investments (Narrative) (Details) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended					1 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2014 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2014 CAD	Mar. 31, 2015 Midas Gold Corp [Member] USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2014 Midas Gold Corp [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Midas Gold Corp [Member]	Mar. 31, 2015 Midas Gold Corp [Member] CAD	Dec. 31, 2014 Midas Gold Corp [Member]	Apr. 30, 2011 Midas Gold Corp [Member] Private Placement [Member] USD ($)
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Number of shares issued in transaction, (Shares)									30,402,615us-gaap_SaleOfStockNumberOfSharesIssuedInTransaction / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember
Number of shares acquired (in shares)												1,400,000vgz_NumberOfSharesAcquired / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember / us-gaap_SubsidiarySaleOfStockAxis = us-gaap_PrivatePlacementMember
Aggregate purchase price												$ 3,632vgz_PurchasePriceOfPrivatePlacement / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember / us-gaap_SubsidiarySaleOfStockAxis = us-gaap_PrivatePlacementMember
ProceedsFromSaleOfInvestmentProjects							2,772us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleOfInvestmentProjects / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember	10,560us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleOfInvestmentProjects / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember
CommonStockSharesIssued							8,000,000us-gaap_CommonStockSharesIssued / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember	16,000,000us-gaap_CommonStockSharesIssued / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Investments	(348)us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfInvestments	155us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfInvestments		155us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfInvestments			348us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfInvestments / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember
Common stock, shares held (in shares)	82,390,217us-gaap_CommonStockSharesOutstanding		82,390,217us-gaap_CommonStockSharesOutstanding								31,802,615us-gaap_CommonStockSharesOutstanding / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember
Total Midas Common Stock Outstanding (in shares)							7,802,615us-gaap_CommonStockOtherSharesOutstanding / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember	15,802,615us-gaap_CommonStockOtherSharesOutstanding / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember
Percentage of basic shares of subsidiary held	11.20%us-gaap_SaleOfStockPercentageOfOwnershipAfterTransaction		24.90%us-gaap_SaleOfStockPercentageOfOwnershipAfterTransaction				5.50%us-gaap_SaleOfStockPercentageOfOwnershipAfterTransaction / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember
Common Stock Shares Outstanding	82,390,217us-gaap_CommonStockSharesOutstanding		82,390,217us-gaap_CommonStockSharesOutstanding								31,802,615us-gaap_CommonStockSharesOutstanding / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember
Total Midas Common Stock Outstanding (in shares)							7,802,615us-gaap_CommonStockOtherSharesOutstanding / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember	15,802,615us-gaap_CommonStockOtherSharesOutstanding / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember
Fair value at beginning of period	6,163vgz_FairValueOfInvestmentInSubsidiary
Fair value at end of period	$ 2,653vgz_FairValueOfInvestmentInSubsidiary		$ 6,163vgz_FairValueOfInvestmentInSubsidiary
Sale of Stock, Price Per Share					$ (0.73)us-gaap_SaleOfStockPricePerShare	0.80us-gaap_SaleOfStockPricePerShare	$ (0.36)us-gaap_SaleOfStockPricePerShare / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember			0.46us-gaap_SaleOfStockPricePerShare / dei_LegalEntityAxis = vgz_MidasGoldCorpMember

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Total number of shares of other common stock instruments held by shareholders, such as exchangeable shares. May be all or portion of the number of common shares authorized.

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