Reuters reports that SA’s Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) on Thursday urged Rio Tinto workers to report instances of discrimination after the Anglo-Australian miner released an internal report detailing sexual assault, racism, and bullying across its mines.

The report found that male and female Rio Tinto employees in SA experienced the highest rates of racism, at 34.5% and 33.8% respectively, compared to workers in other countries. Workers at Rio Tinto in SA were also the most likely to experience bullying, the report released on Tuesday found, with 54.1% of men and 61.6% of women reporting having been bullied at work. "We can only encourage those affected to use the protection of our constitution and EEA (Employment Equity Act) to report cases of discrimination to the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) including cases of bullying," the DEL indicated in a written response to questions. Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm, who commissioned the report, on Tuesday called the findings "disturbing" and said the company would implement all 26 recommendations from the report. Rio Tinto's SA subsidiary Richards Bay Minerals extracts and refines heavy mineral sands and produces ilmenite, rutile, and zircon at its site in northern KwaZulu-Natal. No-one at Richards Bay Minerals was immediately available to comment.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Mining Weekly

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