South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says the incoming chief executive of BHP Billiton has a strong commitment to the Olympic Dam mining project.

Andrew Mackenzie will take over from Marius Kloppers, who will leave in May.

Mr Weatherill is planning talks with Mr Mackenzie on the future of Olympic Dam's mothballed expansion plan, but has welcomed news of the management change.

"I think this is good news for South Australia. Obviously the project is determined by objective factors that need to be weighed up by the company, but I think we know that Mr Mackenzie is a very strong supporter of the project," he said.