Rio Tinto, the mining giant has announced its plans to pay down $10 billion of debt by end of next year, by putting significant assets up for sale, sharply reducing capital expenditure and cutting 14,000 jobs.

The job cuts today consist of 8,500 contractors and 5,500 permanent employees.

The latest action was taken after the latest signs of contraction in the mining industry as the slowdown in global economic growth erodes demand for many raw materials.

Anglo-Australian major Rio Tinto had warned last month that it would review capital expenditure plans as demand for raw materials weakened.

The move comes just over three weeks after BHP Billiton walked away from its $70 billion bid to buy Rio Tinto, citing in part concerns about Rio Tinto's high debt load.

However, the company did not clarify that which of its operations will be hit by the cuts. The company employs almost 100,000 people worldwide at mines in Australia, Africa, North and South America and Asia.

Yesterday, Japanese electronic giant Sony had revealed its plan to cut a total of 16,000 permanent employees and contractors.