Rio Tinto has signed a three-year collaboration agreement with the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), the company announced recently.



The agreement, intended to enhance the mining giant's human rights policies, calls for Rio Tinto to support the expansion of DIHR's Human Rights and Business Country Portal – a free website that helps businesses identify human rights risks in certain countries. The DIHR will also consult with Rio Tinto on human rights issues in countries where the company has mining operations.



"Rio Tinto's commitment to human rights has always been an integral part of our code of conduct," says Rio's CEO Tom Albanese.



Rio Tinto mines diamonds, precious metals, and minerals all over the world. The company's diamond mining assets include the Argyle Mine in Western Australia – the source of 90% of the world's pink and red colored diamonds and the 60%-owned Diavik mine in Canada, which is North America's most prolific diamond mine.



The company also owns the Murowa mine in Zimbabwe, a country that until recently was barred by the Kimberley Process from exporting diamonds from its Marange diamond fields due to human rights violations perpetrated in the region by government security forces.