The world's largest seller of coal, Peabody Coal Co. of St. Louis, last week signed one of the biggest single contracts in the history of the industry.
The $500 million agreement calls for the delivery by Peabody of a minimum of 117 million tons of coal to the yet-to-be-built Mohave Power Project in Clark County, Nev., 80 miles from Las Vegas. Being built by three Southwestern utility companies headed by Southern California Edison, the $188 million electrical-power plant will have two 750,000-kw. generators on 2,500 acres of Colorado River land. Power from the plant, along with that from a similar...