The past decade has seen the widespread implementation of computerised real-time operational management systems in open pit mines. While these systems have made a significant impact on operational efficiency at a process level, surprisingly little work has gone into integrating these systems with other IT systems, including those used for tactical planning and enterprise resource planning. As a result of this gap in the information hierarchy, the goal of optimising an entire operation, or multiple operations, remains elusive. Implementation of computerised operational management systems in underground mines has been much slower. This is a significant, though often overlooked, reason why the productivity for underground mining is generally so much lower than for open pits. The historical reluctance to implement computerised operational management systems underground can in part be attributed to the underground environment, particularly the difficulty in establishing effective communications. Another factor retarding the implementation of systems underground has been the perception that the nature and scale of underground mining does not lend itself to computerised operational management. This perception can be challenged, not only by a process level examination of the underground mining, but also by a holistic examination of the entire industry. In recent years, the mining industry as a whole has destroyed rather than created wealth and underground mines are major culprits. The degree of value destruct has been more pronounced with underground mines, as the usual problem - low commodity prices - has been exacerbated by the harsh environment, low productivity and a fog of war' no longer generally found in open pits. Faced with these realities, underground mines will have to adopt modern management tools or suffer extinction at the hands of an unsympathetic investment community. All is not gloom and doom, however. Technological advances have largely overcome the difficulties associated with the underground environment. As a result, there is a small, but growing, number of underground mines using computerised operational management systems to directly improve the bottom line. Much greater improvements can be realised if the industry takes advantage of the recent convergence in technology, to integrate process information with tactical and enterprise resource planning systems in order to provide a solid platform for all decision-making. This would result in the e' mine. Given that the underground fraternity is essentially starting with a blank sheet, they have the opportunity to steal a march' on open pit mines, who may be constrained by legacy systems. The benefits of the e' mine are presented through a hypothetical case study that examines the shortfalls of the non-e' mine. The paper ends by presenting a future vision for the e' mine.