Australian mining company MIM has signed up for the newly launched international mining, minerals and metals e-marketplace, Quadrem.
The e-market was launched on November 1 with 20 suppliers and 12 shareholder/buyers including some of the world's richest miners.
MIM, which is one of Australia's largest mining companies and one of the world's leading copper producers, will be the first non-shareholder buyer.
It will join fellow Aussie miners Normandy Mining, BHP and WMC in the e-marketplace.
MIM chief executive Nick Stump said MIM had been actively preparing an e-business strategy on both its buying and selling side.
The company already had a centralised purchasing system with a common catalogue but by joining Quadrem it expected to streamline its business with suppliers and open new avenues for procurement.
He said MIM would establish electronic data exchange through a simple Internet-based system.
Quadrem will open a regional office in Australia next year and will have other offices in Europe, North America, Southern Africa, South America and South East Asia.
The marketplace includes some of the world's richest mining companies who control a large proportion of the world's minerals, gems and precious metals.
Last year the industry spent $US200 billion on procurement and that is expected to grow further this year.
Quadrem has been set up as a mining and metals procurement marketplace to bring together mining, minerals and metals producers and suppliers and provide access to procurement sources worldwide.
It is expected to transform the procurement practices of the mining, minerals and metals industry and bring significant benefits to both suppliers and buyers through standardisation, transparency, streamlined transaction processes and improved inventory management.
A Quadrem spokesman said it utilised a common catalogue of products in several languages and allowed participants regardless of size and location, to access and trade with a large pool of suppliers both locally and around the world.
Quadrem is powered by Commerce One and SAPMarkets and the initial launch involved founding shareholder companies and more than 20 suppliers participating in transactions around the world in four languages.
