Cyanco International, LLC v. Minerales de Occidente, S.A. de C.V., 4:23-cv-03713

Cyanco International, LLC (Cyanco), a sodium cyanide supplier, entered into a sales agreement with Minerales De Occidente, S.A. De C.V. (Minosa), a gold mining operator in Honduras, requiring Minosa to purchase all sodium cyanide needs from Cyanco through 2026.
The contract mandated that both parties maintain all necessary licenses and permits, including Cyanco maintaining a valid U.S. export license for shipping sodium cyanide to Honduras.
Cyanco initially obtained an export license with an 8,000 metric ton limit but shipped a total of 10,640 metric tons to Minosa, exceeding the license.
Upon discovering the over-shipment, Minosa notified Cyanco of a material breach and subsequently terminated the contract after Cyanco did not respond or cure within 30 days.
Cyanco sued Minosa for breach of contract, seeking over $24 million in damages; Minosa countered by seeking declaratory judgment justifying termination due to Cyanco’s license lapse.
The court reconsidered and ultimately granted summary judgment for Minosa, finding Cyanco’s breach was material and incurable because it violated federal export regulations.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Cyanco breached by not maintaining a valid export license	Cyanco maintained/quickly cured license; breach was not material	Cyanco materially breached by over-shipment beyond license, violating federal law	Cyanco materially breached contract; license violation was incurable
Whether Minosa could terminate the contract	Minosa lacked justification; breach was not material	Breach allowed contract termination under law and contract terms	Minosa validly terminated contract after breach
Whether Cyanco had an opportunity to cure breach	Cyanco was entitled to cure by contract and did so by getting new license	Breach was incurable, as violation of law cannot be retroactively cured	Court: Breach was incurable; late cure insufficient
Whether Minosa breached or repudiated the contract	Minosa wrongfully terminated, thus breached	Minosa’s termination was justified and not repudiation	Minosa did not breach or repudiate; termination justified

Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (summary judgment burden shifting standard)
Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574 (standard for nonmovant's summary judgment burden)
Liberty Lobby, Inc. v. Anderson, 477 U.S. 242 (standard for genuine dispute of material fact)
Big Three Welding Equip. Co. v. Crutcher, Rolfs, Cummings, Inc., 229 S.W.2d 600 (Texas definition of "maintain" in contract context)