A Mexican mining contractor seeking more than $25 million from the Coeur Mexicana division of Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. alleges that the North Idaho mining company is being unresponsive in Mexican courts to allegations claiming breach of contract over project work at the Palmarejo Mine.

However, Coeur spokeswoman Stefany Bales says that many of the contractor's claims stated in a press release dated May 11 are false, and that the Mexican mining contractor company has repeatedly misrepresented the facts of the case.

Constructora de Carreteras MYGSA S.A. De C.V. has filed suit in a Mexican court asserting that Coeur's division failed to pay for rock fragmentation work it completed in Chihuahua, Mexico, under a contract signed in 2009. The Mexican company, referred to as MYGSA, contends in its press release that it repeatedly has had to push the case in court because of what it says is a lack of response from Coeur.

MYGSA says Coeur planned to use the crushed rock as underground backfill at the Palmerejo Mine, a silver and gold operation in the state of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. MYGSA also alleges that Coeur has missed several deadlines set by the Mexican court, including one in early May related to subpoenas requesting responses from company executives.

"We provided services to Coeur d'Alene Mines according to our agreement and are asking to be compensated per the terms of our mutually agreed-upon legal contract," Mario Rodriquez Morales of MYGSA says in the press release. "Unfortunately, we have had to request assistance from the courts in resolving in a timely manner what was clearly spelled out by the terms of the contract."

Coeur's Bales, however, asserts that several of MYGSA's allegations in the press release are inaccurate. She says Coeur Mexicana has met all deadlines established by the court in Mexico, and that the division paid the mining contractor for the work it did under the terms of a one-year contract.

"The bottom line is that MYGSA was a nonperforming contractor that proved to be unable to do the work they were under contract to do," Bales says. "MYGSA has continuously failed to provide the Mexican court with documentation to support its claims, choosing instead to hire a local PR firm to take their case to the media in an odd attempt to seek resolution to this legal matter."

The Spokane office of New York-based Hill Knowlton Strategies distributed the press release on MYGSA's behalf.

Bales adds, "Coeur Mexicana has never missed a court deadline in this case. The contract between MYGSA and Coeur Mexicana was for a term of one year, not eight, as MYGSA states in its release."

She says that subpoenas haven't been served upon any executives at Coeur's corporate headquarters in Coeur d'Alene, "nor have notices been filed with the court."

MYGSA also says that it bought about $3 million in specialized equipment specifically for the Coeur Mexicana job.

To which Bales says, "Again, the contract term was for one year. Coeur Mexicana fulfilled its obligation under that contract. MYGSA has continuously failed to provide the Mexican court with documentation to support its claims."

Coeur says on its website that the Palmarejo Mine was commissioned in 2009, with mining done both underground and on the surface. Coeur's owned subsidiary, Coeur Mexicana, employs more than 900 people at Palmarejo, while contractor employment totals about 150. The Palmarejo operation produced $513 million in total metal sales in 2011, or about half of the company's total metal sales, the website says.

Elsewhere, Coeur has a silver mine in Bolivia, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska, and silver-gold mines in Nevada and Argentina. Coeur also has a nonoperating interest in a silver-base metal mine in Australia.

Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. recently reported first-quarter 2012 net income of $4 million, down from $12.5 million in the year-earlier quarter. The company said its first-quarter silver production was 19 percent higher than the year-earlier period, but its gold production was 17 percent lower.