Samarium metal production
Ended Definitive Contract Awarded
- Contract number
- SP470125C0097
- Awardee
-
Less Common Metals LIMITED UEI KYY1L8KBN983
- Awarding agency
-
Troop Support
Defense Logistics Agency, Department of Defense
- Obligated
- $1,499,000
Award facts
- Opportunity
-
- Strategic Materials Research & Development (R&D) Program Solicitation · SP470125B0001 · Posted Jan 15, 2025
- Contract value 100% obligated
- $1,499,000.00 Current and potential, with all options
- Completion date 100% complete
- Current and potential, with all options
- NAICS code
- 541715 Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
- Competition
- Full and Open Competition · 1 offer Negotiated Proposal / Quote
- Pricing
- Firm Fixed Price
- Place of performance
- Great Britain, United Kingdom
- Legislative mandates
-
- Employment Eligibility Verification (E-Verify) FAR subpart 22.18
Award details come from SAM.gov/FPDS.
About this award
The Defense Logistics Agency awarded a definitive firm fixed-price contract to Less Common Metals LIMITED for $1.499 million to produce samarium metal, a critical rare earth element essential for defense applications. The contract, awarded on September 23, 2025, with performance in Great Britain, supports the agency's strategic objective to strengthen domestic supply chains for materials compromised by decreased U.S. mining, refining, and manufacturing capacity. This award stems from a Broad Agency Announcement issued in January 2025 seeking research and development proposals for strategic materials across multiple defense priorities, including permanent magnets, energetic materials, and materials for nuclear weapons and space systems. The contract carries no set-aside designation and is structured as part of the five-year, $95 million Defense Logistics Agency program aimed at developing substitutes and drop-in replacements to reduce dependence on unreliable foreign sources and eliminate single points of failure in critical supply chains.
The samarium metal production contract directly addresses the department's need to secure reliable access to rare earth elements vital for permanent magnet manufacturing and advanced defense systems. By awarding to Less Common Metals LIMITED, a foreign vendor based in the United Kingdom, the Defense Logistics Agency is leveraging established supplier relationships to meet immediate production requirements while longer-term domestic capabilities are developed. The contract's completion date of September 22, 2026, reflects an expedited delivery timeline consistent with the urgency of addressing strategic material vulnerabilities in defense supply chains.
Quick answers
Who was awarded contract SP470125C0097?
SP470125C0097 was awarded to Less Common Metals LIMITED by Troop Support (Defense Logistics Agency) on September 23, 2025.
How much is contract SP470125C0097 worth?
The government has obligated $1,499,000 on SP470125C0097.
Was contract SP470125C0097 competed?
The extent of competition for SP470125C0097 was full and open competition. The government received 1 offer.
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