Business news agency, Bloomberg, has reported that the recent outbreak of Ebola has caused a sharp drop in shares of British registered iron ore mining companies London Mining Company (LMC) and African Minerals Limited (AML).
LMC declined by 14 percent by close in London yesterday Wednesday 4 June, the lowest since it first sold shares in 2009. AML dropped 7.6 percent, the lowest since April 29, 2009.
Sierra Leone reported its first case of the deadly hemorrhagic fever last week, months after it had wreaked havoc in Guinea and Liberia.
18 cases had been confirmed in the last two weeks and 6 dead according to official sources.
Over 200 people have died in neighboring Guinea.
Shares for LMC and AML plummeted on the London stock exchange after the former announced the departure of some of its staff because of the Ebola outbreak. Both companies also issued restrictions to staff movement.
Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz’s BSG Resources Ltd., owner of OCTEA Mining formerly known as Koidu Holdings, is quoted as saying that it had made efforts to minimize the risk of people moving to and from infected areas, and had updated rules for emergency evacuation of expatriate staff.
(C) Politico 05/06/14
