King leaves Ausdrill board

Ausdrill non-executive director Wal King has resigned from his role just three years after joining the company.

"Mr King has decided to focus on his other board commitments," Ausdrill said in a statement.

The former Leighton Holdings boss joined the mining services firm in 2011 as deputy chairman and non-executive director.

He is also non-executive deputy chairman at Sundance Resources, and is a senior adviser at CITIC Pacific Mining.

At the end of November, Mr King will be appointed chairman of Sundance.

Ausdrill chairman Terence O’Connor said the company was fortunate to have had a person of Mr King’s calibre on the board for the last three years.

Ausdrill recently made headlines when the Supreme Court discontinued proceedings against the company’s managing director Ron Sayers, who was on trial for tax evasion charges.

The jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on the verdict.

Last week, the mining services business flagged a 13 per cent slide in its full-year earnings, which it blamed on the consequences of falling iron ore and gold prices.

Ausdrill’s share price closed 8.3 per cent lower at 66 cents per share.