Vedanta's $2.6 bln offer is top bid for Asarco

NEW YORK (Reuters) - India's Vedanta Resources (VED.L) has made the top bid for the assets of bankrupt copper miner Asarco with a $2.6 billion (1.3 billion pound) offer, according to a Wall Street Journal online story on Friday.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter the Journal said a deal with Vedanta could be announced as early as Friday. Asarco's attorney Jack Kinzie declined comment as did a Vedanta representative.

The proposed auction process for Asarco's assets, which needs court approval, gives another bidder the chance to top Vedanta's offer. Grupo Mexico SAB de CV (GMEXICOB.MX), Asarco's parent company has also been fighting to buy the company's assets at auction. Representatives for the company were not immediately available for comment.

The Grupo Mexico unit that has been fighting to keep the Asarco assets said in a court filing this week that the winning bid of $2.6 billion was made by somebody else and was subject to a $50 million break-up fee.

Asarco, which owns three copper mines in Arizona, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005 after it was sued for $1 billion over environmental cleanup and asbestos claims. It wants to sell its assets to emerge from bankruptcy.

(Reporting by Sinead Carew, additional reporting by Emily Chasan and Euan Rocha)