Law360, Dallas (January 04, 2013, 7:49 PM ET) — DynaResource Inc. last week asked a Texas state court for more than $14 million in damages it says were caused when Goldgroup Resources Inc. improperly claimed to own half of a 178,000-acre gold mining project in Mexico.

Dyna, also known as DynaUSA, says in a Dec. 27 suit that it and Goldgroup each own half the shares of DynaResource de Mexico SA de CV, known as DynaMexico, the entity that controls the San Jose de Gracia mining project in Sinaloa, Mexico. But Goldgroup has repeatedly and continually claimed to its own shareholders that the company directly owns half the mining project, in an attempt to undermine Dyna’s strength and wrest control of the company, the suit says.

Dyna claims Goldgroup used the ownership posture to “bolster its own value and stock price to the exclusion and damage of DynaMexico and DynaUSA,” helping the company raise $40 million in a round of fundraising, of which $13.9 million went to fund the mining project. The funding triggered an expansion of Goldgroup’s ownership interest in DynaMexico to 50 percent from 25 percent.

“To coax DynaMexico into issuing this certificate, Goldgroup feigned cooperation amid merger talks with DynaUSA,” the suit says. “Unbeknownst to DynaMexico and DynaUSA, Goldgroup did this while engaging in secret, but later disclosed efforts to take control of DynaMexico and/or dilute DynaUSA’s ownership.”

Dyna is seeking disgorgement of the money Goldgroup raised for the mine as well as a declaratory judgment that the mining project is owned solely by DynaMexico and the cancellation of Goldgroup’s 25 percent stock certificate. It also wants additional unspecified damages for claims that Goldgroup breached its fiduciary duty to DynaMexico, tortiously interfered with Dyna’s business, usurped Dyna’s corporate opportunities and stole trade secrets.

The suit was filed shortly after a DynaMexico shareholders meeting held in Mexico where Dyna alleges Goldgroup, in a “blackmail-like scheme,” unilaterally blocked the replacement of its outgoing CEO and chief financial officer on DynaMexico’s board unless the company agreed to fully release claims against the outgoing officers, Keith Piggott and John Sutherland, who are named defendants.

DynaMexico says it is Piggott and Sutherland who are chiefly responsible for perpetrating the fraud about the mine’s ownership, and alleges the men withheld key information about the mine from investors and refused to correct misstatements. Dyna alleges the men wrongly claimed to have power of attorney for DynaMexico, refused to tell investors the mine was operated by Mineras de DynaResource SA de CV, a wholly owned subsidiary of DynaUSA, and used confidential financial data about DynaMexico in an attempt to “hijack” control of the mine.

The Dyna companies are represented by Mark S. Werbner and Sawyer Neely of Sayles Werbner PC and by R. Bradley Lamberth of Steed Flagg Lamberth LLP.

Counsel information for Goldgroup was not immediately available Friday.

The case is DynaResource Inc. et al. v. Goldgroup Mining Inc. et al., case number DC-12-15031, in the 14th Judicial District Court of Dallas County, Texas.