United Mining Guild
“At what point does ‘acceptable loss’ become unacceptable?” — Dr. Helena Sarr
Overview
The United Mining Guild (UMG) is the largest mining corporation in known space, controlling the majority of substrate extraction operations across all Void Sectors.
| Headquarters | Station Meridian-7 |
| CEO | Alexis Korr |
| Annual Revenue | ~3.4B credits (2406) |
| Employees | 4,000+ direct |
| Contractors | 12,000+ permitted |
| Substrate Market Share | Dominant |
Corporate Structure
Executive Board
| Position | Name | Notable |
|---|---|---|
| CEO | Alexis Korr | ”Economic impact unacceptable” |
| CFO | David Okonkwo | ”Fiduciary responsibility” |
| VP Operations | Sarah Chen | ”Can’t regulate individual risk” |
| VP Regulatory Affairs | Marcus Veld | ”Acceptable loss ratio” |
| VP Contractor Relations | Jin Park | ”Contractors accept the risks” |
| Chief Legal Counsel | Yuki Tanaka | Abstained from safety vote |
| Director of Safety | Dr. Helena Sarr | Sole voice of dissent |
Business Model
The Guild operates primarily through independent contractors:
- Permit System: Miners purchase extraction permits from UMG
- Solo Operations: Most substrate extraction is done by solo operators
- Risk Transfer: Contractors sign comprehensive waivers
- Profit Retention: Contractors keep 100% of yields (minus permit fees)
- Plausible Deniability: Guild isn’t liable for contractor losses
Financial Performance (Q4-2406)
- Total revenue: 847M credits (+12% YoY)
- Substrate sales: 441M credits (52% of revenue)
- Operating margin: 23.4%
- Permits issued: 12,447
Safety Record
Public Position
“Safe mining practices are everyone’s responsibility.”
“Current Guild safety record: 47 million work-hours without a Class-A incident.”
Private Reality
From leaked documents:
Incident Rate
- 19 miners have vanished in 18 months
- All during substrate extraction in Void Sectors
- All under “standard protocols”
- The Guild knows. They voted not to investigate.
The Sarr Vote
On 2407.01.15, Dr. Helena Sarr presented evidence of a pattern to the Executive Board:
- 19 nearly identical incidents
- Common factors across all cases
- Black box timestamp anomalies in 73% of cases
- Request for 2.4M credit safety review
The board voted 5-0 to deny her request.
Their Reasoning
Marcus Veld (VP Regulatory Affairs)
“We’re talking about a material that’s responsible for half our revenue. The economic value of substrate extraction is approximately 840 million credits per year. The cost of these incidents, tragic as they are, is nineteen lives and roughly 30 million in lost cargo.”
“From a risk-management perspective, that’s an acceptable loss ratio.”
Alexis Korr (CEO)
“We have a fiduciary responsibility to the Guild’s financial health. We employ 4,000 people directly. We support an ecosystem of contractors, suppliers, and service providers that represents tens of thousands of livelihoods.”
Cover-Up
The Guild actively suppresses information about substrate incidents:
Classification
- Board meeting minutes: CONFIDENTIAL - BOARD MEMBERS ONLY
- Incident report addendums: RESTRICTED ACCESS - LEVEL 3+
- Incident pattern data: NOT DISCLOSED
Lobbying
From the board meeting:
“Guild has submitted formal objections [to new Void Sector regulations] citing operational burden and questionable scientific basis.”
The Guild is actively fighting regulatory oversight while miners continue to vanish.
Legal Protection
Yuki Tanaka (Chief Legal Counsel)
“Independent contractors sign comprehensive waivers. They acknowledge the risks. Our insurance actuaries have reviewed the incident rate and confirmed we’re within acceptable loss parameters. We haven’t faced a single successful lawsuit from next of kin because the documentation is airtight.”
The Whistleblower
An anonymous Guild employee leaked the board meeting minutes to journalists, writing:
“I’ve worked for the Guild for eight years. I believed in the mission. Safe mining practices. Protecting workers. Industry standards.”
“I can’t be part of that anymore.”
If identified, the whistleblower faces:
- Termination
- Criminal charges (per Guild bylaws)
- Potential “disappearance” (per their own assessment)
Current Operations
Despite the pattern of incidents, the Guild continues to:
- Issue new permits for Void Sector operations
- Expand into high-risk sectors (33-Mu approved for new operations)
- Fight regulatory restrictions
- Classify safety data
Their official recommendation remains:
“Substrate extraction permits remain valid. No operational changes recommended at this time.”
Related Documents
- Board Meeting Minutes — The Sarr vote
- [[incident-report-7743|Incident Report #7743]] — Example of Guild reporting
- The Leak — Whistleblower exposure
See Also
- Dr. Helena Sarr — The dissenting voice
- Substrate — What drives Guild profits
- Void Sectors — Where miners are vanishing