FInal_RFI_for_FedBizOpps_Posting.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Strategic Materials

1.0 Description

1.1 The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Strategic Materials is seeking information on the separation of Individual Rare Earth Oxides (IREO) from a limited volume supply of mixed Rare Earth (RE) chemical concentrate, the principal constituents of which are Samarium, Europium, and Gadolinium (i.e., a SEG concentrate).

1.2 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, DLA Strategic Materials is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals.

Responders are advised that DLA Strategic Materials will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOps) website. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement.

1.3 Please respond with a white paper as detailed in Section 4.0 Responses below. Your response will help the Government craft a requirement that is consistent with your market while at the same time meeting the Government’s needs.

2.0 Background

DLA Strategic Materials is the operational agent of the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) Manager, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD-A&S), who is charged with implementation of the provisions of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C.

Section 98 et seq., hereafter referred to as the “Act”).

Section 2(b) of the Act requires the NDS Manager to “…provide for the acquisition and retention of stocks of certain strategic and critical materials…, to decrease and to preclude, when possible, a dangerous and costly dependence by the United States upon foreign sources or a single point of failure for supplies of such materials in times of national emergency”.

In addition, the Act “provide(s) for the upgrading, refining, or processing of any material in the stockpile …when necessary to convert such material into a form more suitable for storage, subsequent disposition, and immediate use in a national emergency”.

2.1 Proposed Service: Separate IREO into 500 kilogram (kg) lots of SEG concentrates (oxide form). If an RFP is issued, DLA Strategic Materials may consider proposals for multiple 500 kg lots.

2.1.1 The most desirable service is the separation of all constituent REs as IREO from a SEG concentrate provided by DLA Strategic Materials. IREO includes the following materials: Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb4O7, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3, and Y2O3;

2.1.2 The second most desirable service is the separation of Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb4O7, Dy2O3, Y2O3 as IREO and a mixed Heavy Rare Earth Oxide (HREO) concentrate comprised of Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3.

2.1.3 The third most desirable service is the separation of Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3 as IREO and a mixed HREO concentrate comprised of Tb4O7, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3, and Y2O3.

2.1.4 The least desirable service is the separation of some combination of the IREO listed in Section 2.1.1 and a mixed chemical concentrate of the balance of constituent RE materials from the SEG concentrate provided by DLA Strategic Materials. If an RFP is issued, DLA Strategic Materials may only select this form of separation if a vendor can demonstrate, via written justification, that a vendor’s existing separation technology is incapable of providing any of the services requested under Sections 2.1.1, 2.1.2, or 2.1.3.

2.2 Proposed Service Definition:

2.2.1 For Sm2O3, Gd2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, and Lu2O3, IREO product quality shall be not less than 99.9 wt.% contained Rare Earth Oxide (i.e., “3N”) with less than 4% yield loss

2.2.2 For Eu2O3, Tb4O7, Dy2O3 and Y2O3, IREO product quality shall be not less than

99.99 wt.% contained Rare Earth Oxide (i.e., “4N”).

2.2.3 For SEG concentrate impurities comprised of La2O3, CeO2, Pr6O11, and Nd2O3, IREO products can be separated at 99 wt.% contained Rare Earth Oxide (i.e., “2N”) to demonstrate this separating capability.

2.3 Proposed Delivery Period: Six months from date of contract award.

2.4 Limitations: N/A

2.5 Security Requirements: N/A

3.0 Requested Information

Material Specification Questions

DLA Strategic Materials notes that proprietary specification information submitted to the Government will be held as Business Confidential and not disclosed outside of DLA Strategic Materials or the chain of command responsible for the operation of the National Defense Stockpile

(NDS).

Specification information is important as it helps ensure that the materials potentially acquired for the NDS could be released to industry for the production of end items in the event of a National Emergency.

• Please provide specifications of the IREO (Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb4O7, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3, and Y2O3) produced, sold, or required by your company.

• Please provide forecasted specifications for the IREO to be produced, sold or required by your company. Specifications can be commercial or company specific.

• Please include any comparable Material Safety Datasheet (MDS), Safety Data Sheet (SDS), or Certificate of Analyses (COA) for IREOs (i.e., Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb4O7, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3, and Y2O3) your company might provide to the Government after the separation of Government-furnished SEG concentrate.

Pricing and Industrial Capability Questions

• On what basis do you typically price the IREO material resulting from chemical concentrate separation processing?

• Are there frequent prices in the price of this material? If yes, how do you typically address price changes?

• Please provide a copy of a redacted commercial contract that includes your standard terms and conditions.

• What is your production/delivery capacity per year?

• What is the unit of measure that you use to price IREO materials?

• Do you provide a quantities price break?

• Is there an applicable shipment variance?

• Please provide a rough order of magnitude cost estimate for your capabilities to separate a

500 kg lot of SEG Concentrate, in accordance with Section 2.1 and Section 2.2. Respondents may submit multiple cost estimates to reflect the variable capabilities of Section 2.1 and the specifications in Section 2.2.

Packing Questions

• Outline industry acceptable packaging methods that your company uses to store and transport the IREO products. Please include any information that relates to how the IREO may conform to industry standards for packaging.

• NDS materials, including any IREOs to be obtained from this effort, may be stored for greater than twenty-five years. Please include information on the following issues for IREOs in long-term storage:

o Shelf life, o Environmental impact, o Applicable Federal Regulations, and o If any, material rotation requirements.

Contracting Questions

• Is separation of SEG a frequent requirement for your organization? If yes, how frequent?

• What is your preferred contract type?

• What is your typical or estimated delivery time for IREO products from the date of receiving a contract/order?

• Do you have an active iRAPT account for submitting electronic invoices in the Wide Area Workflow System?

• If, as a requirement for contract award under an RFP, you were requested to provide sales data identifying the percentage of material sold to the Government and the percentage of material sold to the general public, would you provide such information?

• Is your company registered in the System for Award Management (SAM)?

(https://www.sam.gov/).

• Does your company have a cage code?

• Do you typically use subcontractors to produce/provide this material or service?

• Would you provide certified financial statements, if requested?

• Please submit lessons learned from current or previous contract awards.

4.0 Responses

4.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper.

4.2 White papers in Microsoft Word or Office 2010 compatible format are due no later than 24 September 2018, 5:00 pm) EDT. Responses shall be limited to two pages for Section 2 which does not include pagination for MDS or COA attachment information on the eleven IREO specified above and submitted via e-mail; only to SMContracting@dla.mil.

Proprietary information, if any, MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

4.3 Section 1 of the white paper shall provide administrative information and shall include the following as a minimum:

4.3.1 Name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, fax number, and email of designated point of contact.

4.3.2 Recommended contract strategy.

4.3.3 Either, (1) copies of executed non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the contractors supporting DLA Strategic Materials in technical evaluations or (2) a statement that the responders will not allow the Government to release its proprietary data to the Government support contractors. In the absence of either of the foregoing, the Government will assume that the responder does NOT agree to the release of its submission to Government support contractors.

https://www.sam.gov/ mailto:SMContracting@dla.mil

4.3.4 Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, very small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business) based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). “Small business concern” means a concern, including its affiliates that is independently owned and operated, not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on Government contracts, and qualified as a small business under the criteria and size standards in 13 CFR part

121. A small business concern for the purposes of this procurement is generally defined as a business, including its affiliates, averaging no more than $5 million dollars in annual receipts. Annual receipts of a concern that has been in business for 3 or more complete fiscal years means the annual average gross revenue of the concern taken for the last 3 fiscal years. Annual receipts of a concern that has been in business for less than 3 complete fiscal years means its total receipts for the period it has been in business, divided by the number of weeks including fractions of a week that it has been in business, and multiplied by 52. Responders are cautioned, however, that this is a general description only. Additional standards and conditions apply. Please refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR 19 for additional detailed information on Small Business Size Standards.

The FAR is available at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vffara.htm.

4.3.5 The facility security clearance of the offeror.

The number of pages in Section 1 of the white paper shall not be included in the page count limitation, i.e., the page limitation applies only to Section 2 of the white paper.

4.4 Section 2 of the white paper shall answer the issues addressed in Section 3 of this RFI and shall be limited to two pages which does not include pagination for SDS or COA attachment information for the eleven IREO specified in above pages

5.0 Industry Discussions

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.

6.0 Questions

Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by email to the Contracting office, email address above. Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions will be answered by posting answers to Federal Business Opportunities (www.fbo.gov) website; accordingly, questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after September 24, 2018 will be answered.

7.0 Summary

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY to identify sources that can provide SEG Concentrate Separation. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on http://farsite.hill.af.mil/vffara.htm the Government. DLA Strategic Materials has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should NOT be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.