Marriner Eccles and Ed Littlefield, circa 1964. Utah International reached such an apex in the mid-1970s that it literally could grow no higher in its current form. With the exception of missile base construction in support of the Cold War, the company concentrated fully on its varied mining concerns and international shipping. High prices for coking coal in the late 1960s boosted earnings to unprecedented heights; then the continued demand for coking coal, as well as a profitable market for uranium oxide, kept earnings soaring well into the next decade. As noted, this exceptional success turned increasingly controversial in Australia because a foreign-based mining multi-national developed, exported, and profited handsomely from irreplaceable natural resources. Of course UI also paid taxes, employed thousands, contributed to community development, and restored disrupted land. Yet, Littlefield admitted, "We painted ourselves into a corner. We were the victims of our own success." As the debate heightened, Littlefield pondered success of a different kind: something that could provide a capstone for 75 years of building, mining, and shipping, yet take on its own life; something that could project a tradition of challenge and ingenuity far into the future. A merger perhaps. But how? And with whom?