Market rumours point at South32 as the most likely buyer, since the miner decided last month to ditch its $200 million acquisition of Peabody Energy’s coal mine in New South Wales.
The tragic accident was the result of "incompetence, mismanagement, bureaucratic bungling, deceit, ruthlessness... and cynical indifference," an official report said.
Governments, industry players, unions expected to sign federal mining agreement this week, which aims to double investment in the sector to $25bn in eight years.
Local judge says the company failed to complete improvements that could have prevented the latest cyanide spill, the third such accident in less than 18 months.