The relatively low quality of the thermal coal from the 1.3 billion tonne deposit and market upheavals are believed to have slowed down progress on the sale, which was expected to attract a field of local and overseas buyers.

“Coal & Allied is yet to complete a satisfactory sales process for the Oaklands deposit,” a company spokesperson told ILN.

Oaklands is an undeveloped deposit in the Southern Riverina district of NSW, for which Coal & Allied holds an assessment lease.

In June last year, Coal & Allied informed the market that it was in the process of assessing the potential sale of the Oaklands deposit and that it had engaged corporate advisers to assist.

The deposit is strategically located near the NSW-Victorian powerlines and could be used for domestic power generation if it is developed into a 12 million tonne per annum operation.

Coalworks, which is keen on using its coal-to-liquid technology in its tenements in the Hunter Valley, is a possible buyer because it could use technology it has the rights for to convert the low-quality coal into liquids. Indian buyers are also believed to be interested in using the coal for their power stations.