NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The Mongolia government says it would prefer to keep a key coking coal asset under state control, potentially ruling out a number of bidders, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Tavan Tolgoi asset had attracted large bidders, including BHP Billiton, Vale SA and Peabody Energy, as well as India's Jindal and China Shenhua Energy. The Mongolian government said the ownership and investment of other big mining assets will be decided on a case-by-case basis.