Outgoing Trump admin OKs land swap for Rio Tinto's Arizona copper mine

US President Donald Trump's outgoing administration approved a land swap on Friday for a Rio Tinto copper mine in Arizona that would boost domestic production of the red metal but destroy sites sacred to Native Americans.

The US Forest Service published an environmental impact statement for the Resolution Copper project that allows the federal government to swap land containing a large copper deposit for nearby acreage that Rio owns.

The miner is eager to boost copper production to meet burgeoning demand from electric vehicles (EVs) manufacturers and other emerging green technologies. EVs use twice as much copper as internal combustion engines.

The publication was opposed by environmentalists who fear the mine could pollute local water supplies and Native Americans who consider the land home to religious deities.