Oldest extraction infrastructure in the Corridor. Nothing at spec. Everything running. Meridian East — EO shell contractor — holds the actual extraction contracts and diverts 18% of output off-manifest. ACU auditors are six weeks from finding it.
The mines predate the Upheaval, the ACU, and three previous governments. Equipment aging; parts sourced, substituted, improvised for twenty years. Nothing here is at spec. Everything is running.
Meridian East's financial penetration means EO receives 18% of copper and cobalt output off-manifest. ACU revenue assumes 100% capture. The gap has funded EO regional operations for four years. The second processing facility where the off-manifest ore actually goes is real. One operator with a drone and two hours can find it.