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There were no qualified buyers for Westmoreland Coal Co. mines this week, leaving the assets to creditors pending February court hearing.

The sale, which included the Rosebud Mine, the lone coal source for the Colstrip power plant, was intended to solicit purchase offers for Westmoreland’s mines, while creditors waited in the wings with a minimum “stalking horse” bid.

Colorado-base Westmoreland identified more than 40 parties last summer that it considered potential buyers, but no purchase offers resulted. The company filed for bankruptcy last October.

No one came forward with an acceptable offer and now creditors are positioned to take both the core assets, like Rosebud, and several non-core assets like the Absaloka mine near Crow Agency.

But the transfer to creditors is not a done deal. Westmoreland needs to convince the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas on Feb. 4 to discard the coal company’s roughly $329 million in unsecured pension and benefits obligation owed mostly to the members of United Mine Workers.