Aquarius will handle the contracts and complements Brady Trinity, which Xstrata Copper already uses for risk management and trading. This is an important deal for Brady as it is the first sale of Aquarius since Brady's acquisition of the specialist metals trading technology as part of its purchase of Comsoft in January.

The implementation by Xstrata Copper will be an industry first in providing a fully integrated single-source solution for trading, risk management and complete contract management of refined and raw materials, including contract capture, invoicing, QP schedule, mark-to-market, assaying, hedging, financing and credit and market risk. Brady is already the market leader in this complex and specialised market; by offering a combined Aquarius/Trinity solution Brady is now providing a greater depth of functionality and expertise in concentrates, specifically aimed at mining, smelting and trading companies.

Wim Marais, Financial Manager of XCME comments: "Brady's system addresses our business requirements very effectively. We have been clients for some time and are very impressed with their market knowledge and understanding of our business. Their expertise significantly de-risks the project from our perspective and will provide a fast ROI in terms of the expected improvements in speed, efficiency and ease of management."

Gavin Lavelle, Brady CEO, said: "Integrating Aquarius into the Brady solution set creates an incredibly powerful end-to-end trading, risk management and settlement solution that is unique in the market. Xstrata has been very quick to recognise the potential cost savings and the considerable benefits across their trading and risk management infrastructure."

Xstrata Copper operates mines, concentrators, smelters and refineries at various locations in Canada, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Australia.