The article discusses how Activity Based Costing (ABC) can be a better way to calculate costs for underground coal mining systems compared to traditional methods. By using a new costing framework, the study compared two types of mining systems and found that the continuous miner system is generally a better investment. When using ABC, better investment decisions were made compared to traditional costing techniques, which tended to overestimate total costs. The study demonstrates how ABC can be a useful management tool in the mining industry.