The company’s CEO and a University of Wollongong coal mining graduate Mark Cutifani is expected to announce the sale of the Australian assets as part of its earnings announcement on Tuesday.

The company has foreshadowed that it plans to cull assets from 55 to 20 and is targeting $US4 billion in asset sales by next year.

The recently completed Grosvenor coal mine would be considered one of the company’s more attractive assets but it is unlikely it will receive anywhere near what it paid to develop it using new tunnel boring techniques for the drives.

Sources have told ICN that Anglo might try to sell Grosvenor and its Moranbah North mine as a $1.0 billion package deal. Grosvenor’s approved expenditure for construction was $1.95 billion.

This is on top of the underground development costs till first longwall start of approximately $900 million.

The number of distressed assets on the market means that the company will struggle to recoup its development costs and original investment.

Anglo has already indicated that it wants to exit the Australian thermal coal markets and already has four thermal coal assets for sale.