Sept 11 (Reuters) - A Native American group on Wednesday

asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block Rio Tinto and BHP

from gaining access to Arizona land needed to build a

massive copper mine, a last-ditch legal effort in a long-running

case that pits religious and cultural rights against the energy

transition.

Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group comprised of the San

Carlos Apache tribe and conservationists, filed an appeal

seeking to overturn a March ruling from the San Francisco-based

9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the federal

government to swap acreage with the mining companies for their

Resolution Copper project.