Compass Mining clients sued the company for $2 million

The mining company is accused of not being able to return equipment purchased by customers who are now in Russia.

Texas-based mining company Compass Mining's clients are reportedly suing the company seeking $2 million in damages for unreturned equipment. The lawsuit, dated Jan. 17, alleges that the firm is suspected of fraud because it did not warn the Russian company Bit River that it was only an intermediary, and the actual owners of the equipment are those who are now plaintiffs.

Compass Mining ended its partnership with Bit River in January 2022 due to sanctions. The lawsuit alleges that the company did not even try to return the equipment or exchange it for assets. The plaintiffs insist that Compass Mining is obliged to return the miners to its customers.

In response, company representatives have already stated that they cannot do business with Bit River. The Russian company told the plaintiffs that all equipment under the contract belongs to Compass, and therefore all issues must be resolved with the Texas company.

The lawsuit authors argue that Compass's promise of 95% uptime for the machine was false - in fact, it did not exceed 50-60%. Some claim to have not been online at all for several weeks.

Earlier, Compass Mining stopped working in Georgia due to internal problems. Customers were promised to be transferred to equipment located in the United States.