Australia's Tawana curtails Liberia ops due to Ebola, shares tumble

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Shares in Australian-listed iron ore developer Tawana Resources tumbled as much as 15 percent on Friday after the company said it was suspending much of its activities in Liberia due to a deadly Ebola outbreak. Tawana, which is developing the Mofe Creek project near the Liberian coast, said it was halting all non-essential field activities in the west African country after a state of emergency was declared this week. The worst ever outbreak of the disease has claimed at least 932 lives in west Africa, according to the World Health Organisation. "All non-essential local staff, contractors and expatriate staff will return to their homes in the coming week," Tawana said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. Shares in Tawana tumbled 14.8 percent to close at 2.3 Australian cents, giving it a market capitalisation of around A$34 million ($31 million). (1 US dollar = 1.0818 Australian dollar)