Outer Ring Excavations
Outer Ring Excavations, or ORE, is the largest independent mining corporation around. ORE was originally a fledgling Gallentean company, but struck gold when they found extremely rich Nocxium asteroid belts in the Outer Ring region. When the Gallente Federation tried to force ORE to reveal the location of the asteroid fields the company left Gallentean space and set up base in the Outer Ring region. They used their massive wealth to buy protection for their bases and keep their operation secret. Several pirate factions have tried to muscle in on the ORE territories, but with little success.
Practically, ORE is an NPC factionthat mainly has bases in 0.0 systems of Outer Ring. They have a number of bases and agents that give missions; as they're a specialized corporation they also have some Loyalty Point rewards that are of special interest to miners.
History
Founded in YC 91 by Yani Sar Arteu and Orion Mashel, ORE's first five years were tough, as the company found it difficult to stand out among the many corporations in the area and many of the larger mining companies stonewalled any challengers to their dominance. ORE frequently found its bids undercut and customers taken by larger firms.
However, in YC 96, a massive Obsidian Ochre asteroid containing a huge amount of nocxium was discovered by ORE. The asteroid was reportedly the largest single deposit of nocxium to ever be found in New Eden, with some reports stating the size was closer the size of a dwarf planet. The Gallente Federation deemed the asteroid too much for the small company to handle and tried to buy out the location of the asteroid from ORE. However, Yani refused to give the location and thus moved all of ORE operations in Federation space in the Outer Ring region. The wealth of asteroid turned the company into a minor faction which laid claim to the entire Outer Ring region.
In YC 103, Yani Sar Arteu step down as CEO of ORE allowing Orion Mashel to become CEO. For many years Mordu's Legion provided security for ORE and their assets, in YC 106 Orion Mashel required a meeting with Muryia Mordu, the CEO of Mordu's Legion. After the meeting, Muryia appeared clearly upset and later led an operation in Serpentis space.
Relations between the ORE and Mordu's Legion soured until, finally, in YC 107 Mordu's Legion left the region. In YC 108, the entire corporation was taken in a hostile takeover by Serpentis, led by Admiral Brion of the Serpentis First Expeditionary Fleet, which was met by resistance by ORE employees but ORE had no protection against the fleet from Serpentis.
During the period of Serpentis control, multiple entities acquired shares in ORE. In YC 117, shareholders elected to transfer executive control to the Upwell Consortium, a space industrial concern chaired by Yani Sar Arteu. Assets of ORE were placed under the control of Upwell during a seizure conducted by Mordu's Legion and Arkombine.
The Elder War and the Second Gallente-Caldari War had no direct effect on ORE, though the corporation did make money from the empires that required their resources. They were more concerned about the problems closer to home than in empire space.
ORE Ships
ORE has created a significant number of mining and related ships, from the Venture to the Rorqual, as well as the Noctis which specializes in salvaging. If you do any mining you will be flying ORE ships. See ORE Basic Ship and Skill Guide for details.
