Anglo American has confirmed it will retain many of the Australian assets it had slated for divestment after sensationally axing a one-year-old strategy to reduce debt by selling the vast majority of its assets.

The backflip means Anglo will not sell Queensland's Moranbah North and Grosvenor coking coal mines, despite soliciting bids for the assets in 2016 from the likes of BHP Billiton and Apollo Global Management.