SANTIAGO, April 16 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto

aims to keep all of the copper from its Resolution mine

inside the United States should the long-delayed and

controversial project win regulatory approval, a senior

executive said on Tuesday.

The Arizona mine would, if developed, over its life produce

more than 40 billion pounds (18.1 million metric tons) of copper

and supply more than a quarter of U.S. demand, but it is

strongly opposed by some Native Americans given concerns the

project could destroy a site of religious and cultural import.

That has placed Resolution at the center of a simmering

debate about where best to secure copper and other critical

minerals for the clean energy transition.

Some of Resolution's opponents have repeatedly alleged that

Anglo-Australian miner Rio would export the project's copper,

but the company sees strong demand inside the United States,

Bold Baatar, head of Rio's copper business, said in an interview

on the sidelines of the World Copper Conference in Santiago.

"Certainly if Resolution comes on stream, all of that copper

we would like it to be sold in the U.S.," he said.

Rio operates Utah's Kennecott copper mine and smelter, with

all of its production consumed inside the country. The only

other U.S. copper smelter is operated by Freeport-McMoRan ( FCX )

.

A Native American group on Monday asked all members of a

U.S. appeals court to overturn an earlier ruling that granted

land to Rio and minority partner BHP to develop

Resolution. U.S. President Joe Biden had separately paused a

regulatory decision on the project in 2021.

Baatar said he would be tracking the court case. He and Rio

have long said they believe Resolution can be developed safely.

"The U.S. is endowed with the resources. It's probably one

of the most stringent environmental, legal and regulatory

frameworks in the world," Baatar said.

"I think the U.S. will be making a choice between 'in our

backyard' or 'in somebody else's backyard.' But there's no

security of supply if it's somebody else's backyard."

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

The global copper industry has in recent years faced rising

opposition to a slew of projects, including Resolution as well

as First Quantum's Cobre Panama, which Panamanian

officials forced to close last year, taking 1% of the world's

supply of the red metal offline.

That has sparked concerns from Baatar and other industry

executives about how the world can obtain the copper needed for

the energy transition.

Given growing appetite for copper from the personal

electronics industry, as well as for use in artificial

intelligence technologies, prices are expected to jump more than

30% in coming years, analysts say.

"(Copper) demand is really the least of the issues at the

moment. I think it's the supply side," said Baatar, who will

become Rio's chief commercial officer later this year in a move

widely seen as positioning him to eventually become its CEO.