JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mining services provider Watpac Civil & Mining has fired back at iron-ore company BC Iron with a counterclaim of A$52.78-million as the legal battle between the two companies intensifies.

BC Iron, which is seeking damages for alleged failures by Watpac to comply with a mining services contract at the Nullagine iron-ore joint venture (JV), said on Tuesday that it would “strongly” defend the counterclaim and the claims that Watpac had made in its defence against the legal proceedings.

“A significant portion of the counterclaim is for amounts which were not invoiced or claimed by Watpac until the contract had been terminated. This portion relates to retrospective claims for additional amounts or adjustments to amounts previously invoiced by Watpac and paid by BC Iron Nullagine during the course of its mining services contract with Watpac. In some cases, these claims are in relation to work conducted by Watpac in months as far back as June 2011,” BC Iron stated in a release to the ASX.

BC Iron initiated legal proceedings against its former mining services contractor in late December.

The two companies are in a dispute over the termination of the mining contract at the Nullagine JV operation between BC Iron (75%) and Fortescue Metals (25%), in Western Australia. BC Iron informed Watpac in April 2015 that its contract at Nullagine would be terminated on July 1, 2015, instead of the contractual end date of September 30, 2015.

At June 30, 2015, Watpac had valued its entitlements due from BC Iron at A$12.5-million. The company reported last week that it had impaired the full A$19.2-million carrying value of all former Nullagine plant and associated stock assets that had remained idled since the Nullagine contract ended.

Direct shipping ore operations at Nullagine were suspended in December, as the mine struggled against the continued fall in iron-ore prices.