To get best price for them, and they badly need the best, they need to establish bidding for them. It does not serve them to sell privately i.e. under the table.
It does not seem possible that offers to buy would come to them with a best price, only opportunistic ones.
They need to openly state that the claims are available for sale.

My conclusion:
Too much time has gone by for the sale to be completed by end of this year.

I even doubt that they want to sell just now. I think they are waiting for something to happen that the claims will reappreciate in value or even hope further that iron prices recover and they will be able to somehow continue. I can't envision any other scenario as to why they have not offered them for sale by now.