[2] Prior to that he had been deputy chief executive of the Department of State Development (previously known as DMITRE) since July 2014.

He is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the State Government's interaction with BHP, which owns the Olympic Dam copper, gold and uranium mine.

Heithersay joined the public service in 2002 after 20 years of working for the mining companies North Limited and Geopeko.

[4] Heithersay received a Public Service Medal for his work in the South Australian mineral resource sector in the 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours.

[3] In October 2013 Heithersay received the annual ResourceStocks magazine Legend in Mining award for his role in increasing investment in South Australian energy and mineral resources.