Anglo American is unlikely to restart mining at Queensland’s troubled Grosvenor coking coal mine before selling it, with chief executive Duncan Wanblad expressing confidence he can find a good price despite a fire at the site in June.

Sale of Anglo American’s Australian coking coal division shapes as an early and pivotal plank in Mr Wanblad’s plan to fix the company’s balance sheet and fend off BHP’s $75 billion takeover ambitions.