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Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2020
Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation |
Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation | VISTA GOLD CORP. NOTES TO UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Dollar amounts in U.S. dollars and in thousands, except share amounts and per ounce amounts) ​ 1. Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation ​ Vista Gold Corp. and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Vista,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) operate in the gold mining industry. We are focused on 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, option agreements, leases to third parties, joint venture arrangements with other mining companies, or outright sales of assets for cash and/or other consideration. We look for opportunities to improve the value of our gold projects through exploration drilling and/or technical studies focused on optimizing previous engineering work. We do not currently generate cash flows from mining operations. ​ The Company’s flagship asset is its 100% owned Mt Todd gold project (“Mt Todd” or the “Project”) in Northern Territory, Australia. Mt Todd is the largest undeveloped gold project in Australia and, if developed as presently designed, is projected to produce an estimated 5.3 million ounces of gold from proven and probable reserves over a 13-year mine life. Since acquiring Mt Todd in 2006, we have invested substantial financial resources to systematically explore, evaluate, engineer, permit and de-risk the Project. We believe these efforts have increased the total gold resources and reserves, added substantially to the underlying value of the Project, and demonstrated its development potential. ​ In September 2019, Vista announced the positive results of an updated preliminary feasibility study for Mt Todd and subsequently amended this study in September 2020 to correct and/or clarify certain items (the “2019 PFS”). Key improvements reflected in the 2019 PFS included increased estimated gold recovery and production, and selection of vertical milling equipment that is expected to be better suited for anticipated grinding requirements and to reduce energy consumption. Mt Todd will benefit from these improvements, other design efficiencies, and utilization of certain existing infrastructure, which we expect to considerably reduce the Project’s estimated development costs. ​ Vista held other non-core assets at September 30, 2020, including royalty interests in the United States and Indonesia, payments receivable from the sale of a gold/silver project in Mexico, mill equipment not in use and listed for sale, and other holdings of third-party equity securities. ​ The interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements (“interim statements”) of the Company are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments and disclosures necessary for a fair presentation of these interim statements have been included. The results reported in these interim statements are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be reported for the entire year. These interim statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2019 as filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities on Form 10-K (the “2019 Financial Statements”). The year-end balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements and, in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q, certain information and footnote disclosures required by United States generally accepted accounting principles have been condensed or omitted. ​ References to $ are to United States dollars and A$ are to Australian dollars. ​

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the business description and basis of presentation concepts. Business description describes the nature and type of organization including but not limited to organizational structure as may be applicable to holding companies, parent and subsidiary relationships, business divisions, business units, business segments, affiliates and information about significant ownership of the reporting entity. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122369 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122149 Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2134479 + Details
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