Young, Peter Wilshaw and Malcolm McComas have resigned as non-executive directors.

The departures reduce the size of the board to five directors and reflect recent discussions to cut back due to the declining iron ore price.

The iron ore price has fallen by more than 40% this year, including 12.6% in November and last night hit a 5.5-year low of $US69.58 per tonne.

BC will also reduce the fees of the remaining directors from January 1.

It comes after BC last week passed a resolution at its annual general meeting to increase the total annual remuneration cap for non-executive directors by $A200,000 to $900,000.

The move was aimed at providing flexibility in the future and chairman Tony Kiernan stated that fees were "more likely to go the other way at some stage", given the state of the market.

Today Kiernan acknowledged the material contributions of the departing directors, particularly Young, and thanked them for initiating the change.

“Mike was instrumental in transforming the company from an explorer to a producer in a short timeframe,” he said.

“Mike has advised me that in making this decision he took into account his current workload with other companies.”

Young is chairman of emerging explorer Cassini Resources as well as uranium hopeful Energy and Minerals Australia.

BC shares were steady at 57c.