Both Daewoo and Kores collectively own 7.5% of Whitehaven’s flagship Narrabri North underground coal mine in New South Wales, but do not seek control of the Gunnedah Basin miner.

“We dropped the bid to focus on other businesses,” a Kores spokesman told Bloomberg.

Whitehaven told the newswire a number of parties are going through due diligence and there was keen interest.

The deadline for binding bids is expected to be in early April.

Major American coal company Alpha Natural Resources recently established new sales and development offices in Sydney and is rumoured to be a possible bidder.

While interest is expected from Chinese and Indian companies, press speculation has also linked Peabody Energy and Centennial Coal acquirer Banpu to the Whitehaven sales process.

Whitehaven’s board has not announced a definitive timeline for its sale, which was officially launched in late October.

The company has a market cap of around $3.3 billion. Its shares were down 4c to $6.61 this morning.