Rare Earth Separations and Purifications RFI Questions.pdf

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Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Strategic Materials Rare Earth Separations and Purifications

Request for Information

1. DISCLAIMER: This request for information (RFI) is for planning purposes only and is not a request for quote (RFQ), invitation for bid (IFB), or an obligation on the part of the government to acquire any supplies or services. Responses to this RFI are not quotes or offers and cannot be accepted by the government to form a binding contract. The government will determine if/how to proceed based on the results of this notice. Companies that respond to this notice should not expect to receive feedback regarding submissions. The government will not pay any costs incurred in response to this notice. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the expense of the responding party. The information provided in this notice is subject to change and is not binding on the government. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned. DLA Strategic Materials representatives may or may not choose to meet with potential offerors. Such discussions would only be intended to get further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, especially any development and certification risks.

2. SCOPE OF WORK: The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Strategic Materials Directorate is seeking information for the potential acquisition of services for the separation and purification of approximately 12,600 kg of a government-furnished mixture of rare earth oxides (REOs) into individual REOs. The mixture is in powder form, described as a “fine powder”, and has the approximate composition described in Table 1.

Table 1. Composition of REO mixture.

3. POTENTIAL DELIVERY LOCATIONS:

• Hammond Depot: 3200 Sheffield Avenue, Hammond, IN 46327-1003

• Hawthorne Depot: 1 South Main Ave., Hawthorne, NV 89415-9404

• Scotia Depot: Route 5, BLDG 12, Scotia, NY 12302

Oxide Percent by mass Y2O3 1.9 Sm2O3 33.2 Eu2O3 46.1 Gd2O3 11.4 Tb4O7 0.6 Dy2O3 1 Ho2O3 0.2 Er2O3 0.2 Yb2O3 1.9

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4. DESCRIPTION OF INFORMATION REQUESTED: All interested vendors with experience/capabilities as outlined above must provide a capability statement that includes the following:

A. GENERAL DATA

i. Company name.

ii. If you have a parent company, please provide the name.

iii. What is the structure of your company (eg. sole proprietorship, LLC, Not-for-profit, investor owned, incorporated, etc.)?

iv. GSA contract number if applicable.

v. Other government-wide contracts/numbers if applicable (e.g., SEWP, JETS, ESI, etc.).

vi. Socioeconomic status(es).

vii. CAGE code.

viii. UEI number.

ix. Size of business relative to NAICS code.

x. Mailing address.

xi. Name, telephone number, and email address for primary point of contact (POC) with the authority and knowledge to clarify responses with government representatives and can verify the demonstrated capabilities.

xii. Any questions or clarification requests regarding the requirement.

xiii. Examples of direct experience as a prime contractor performing the stated work – please provide the contract number, agency, the scope/value of the contract, the length of the contract, the functions you did under the contract, and/or the role your company played.

xiv. Examples of relevant non-prime experience performing the stated work – please provide the contract number, agency, the scope/value of the contract, the length of the contract, the functions you did under the contract, and/or the role your company played.

xv. Identify any regulations, certifications, or equipment you have or have used, that are necessary to the function of this requirement.

xvi. Identify your intentions to team or subcontract any work and what percentage of work you are capable of in your own right and what percentage you are subcontracting to similarly situated small businesses and what percentage to other than small businesses (large or non-profit entities).

xvii. If you have been mainly a subcontractor, do you have the skill to manage the contract as a prime?

xviii. Does your company have the financial resources to support this effort? Payments are typically made within 30 days of invoice acceptance and invoices are submitted in arrears. If not, then from whom will you get your credit line? Do you already have a credit line? Can you get one big enough to support this contract? Provide your creditor’s name and the amount you can cover.

B. PROCESS INFORMATION

i. Please describe your process(es) for the separation and purification of REOs.

ii. Please describe your process capacity for the example feedstock described in Section

2. Please include the minimum amount of feedstock needed for your process.

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iii. Please describe your process flexibilities based on the nature of the feedstock (form and composition), required recovery percentages, and purities.

iv. Please describe any tools you have available to you for rapid response, such as process parameter adjustments, due to a change in the output requirements (eg.

change in purity requirements). Include estimated time delays due to requirement changes.

v. Please describe your percent recovery of each REO listed in Table 1 for

a. A hypothetical required purity of each oxide of 99.5%

b. A hypothetical required purity of each oxide of 99.9%

c. A hypothetical required purity of each oxide of 99.99%

vi. Please identify any additional data about the example feedstock described in Section 2 that you would require from the Government.

vii. Please provide an estimate of the time you would require to complete separations and purifications of the example feedstock.

viii. If your processes involve batch processes, please identify the overall process’ rate limiting individual process/step and that process’ capacity.

ix. Please describe any known impurities that have adverse effects on process efficiency and why, if known, that impurity has an adverse effect.

x. If there are trace amounts of U and Th, or other hazardous inorganic materials in the example feedstock, please describe what controls you have in place to prevent concentration of U and Th during your process.

xi. If your process cannot prevent concentration of U and Th, please provide responses to Question B(iii) assuming your operation is required to be discontinued once any material fraction reaches a combined concentration of U + Th = 0.05% mass.

xii. If you have an analytical chemistry laboratory on-site, please list your analytical capabilities and your instruments.

C. INDUSTRY AND MARKET INFORMATION

i. Please describe the nature of the REO separation and purification industry, as you understand it, outside the continental United States (OCONUS). For example (a) estimated worldwide capacity for REO separations and purifications; (b) OCONUS locations where REO separations and purifications capacity is concentrated; (c) worldwide demand for REO separations and purifications: (d) competitive nature of pricing for REO separations and purifications, etc.

ii. Please describe the nature of the REO separation and purification industry, as you understand it, within the Continental United States of America (CONUS). For example (a) estimated CONUS capacity for REO separations and purifications; (b) CONUS market share of worldwide REO separations and purifications; (c) number of active CONUS companies capable of performing REO separation and purifications; (d) demand for REO separations and purifications within CONUS; (e) competitive nature of CONUS pricing for REO separations and purifications, etc.

iii. In the next two to five years, are there any anticipated REO separations and purifications manufacturing process changes or maturation of technology development programs that are likely to result in a significant change in your process? If so, please describe the anticipated change/maturation and how that would affect your process.

iv. In what market sector(s) (i.e., military-aerospace, commercial-automotive) are your customers who demand REO separations and purifications?

D. DELIVERY INFORMATION

i. What is your typical time from order to delivery for the separated and purified individual REOs?

ii. What delivery quantities do you typically provide?

iii. Have you used subcontractors to produce/provide this material?

iv. Where would the deliveries originate from? If there are multiple locations, please list all locations.

v. What is your delivery capacity per year?

vi. What additional amount of material could you produce per year and/or deliver without disrupting deliveries to your current customers, hiring additional personnel, or expanding output capacity?

vii. Approximately what quantity of material would constitute a lot/batch?

viii. Does your company offer a discount for either long-term orders or large volume orders?

ix. What is your preferred packaging method for your deliverable products? Please describe any requirements (crates for handling, boxes, padding, wrapping, stacking, inerting, etc.)

x. Are there any safety concerns with packing or transporting your REO products?

xi. Any restrictions or other information you deem pertinent to deliveries?

E. MARKET INFORMATION

i. Are there frequent changes in the market price for this material? If yes, how do you address those changes?

ii. Does the time of year affect the availability and/or the production of HF1 Steel? If yes, how?

iii. In the next two to five years, are there any anticipated manufacturing process changes, mature technology development programs, or shifts in end-user requirements that are likely to result in a change in the material? If so, what are they?

iv. In the next two to five years, are there any anticipated material substitutions that may drive a transition towards or away from the use of HF1 Steel that will affect the demand of the material? If so, what are they?

v. What customer market sector(s) (i.e., military-aerospace, commercial-automotive) purchases your material?

F. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

i. Please provide any additional information you believe would be helpful to one who is interested in the described RES separations and purifications.

ii. If the Government were to solicit such a service as described in Section 2, what other information do you believe the Government should know in order to request this service?

iii. If the Government were to solicit such a service as described in Section 2, what other information should the Government provide to the parties who might be interested in providing these services to the Government.

5. Any information provided by industry to the government in response to this RFI is strictly voluntary.

Responses will not be returned. As a reminder, no entitlements to payment of any direct or indirect

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costs or changes to the government will arise as a result of vendor submission of responses or the government’s use of such information. The information obtained from industry responses to this notice may be used in the development of an acquisition strategy and a future RFQ if applicable. The limit for all responses is 20 pages single-sided in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format with a maximum of 12-point font on an 8.5 x 11 page with margins of 1”. Proprietary information, if any, must be clearly marked.

6. Interested vendors should submit their response as well as any questions through email to the contract specialist, Wanda Willis, email: wanda.willis@dla.mil with “RFI – Rare Earth Separations and Purifications” in the subject line. Responses must be received by February 11, 2026, 12:00 PM EST.

It is the vendor’s responsibility to ensure the email was received and is viewable. Verbal questions/responses will not be accepted.