Light Rare Earth Elements

U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command – Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC), Rock Island, IL, on behalf of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy via its Innovation Capability and Modernization (ICAM) Program (10 U.S.C. § 4817), in conjunction with Army Contracting Command – Rock Island (ACC-RI), manages the Cornerstone Other Transaction Agreement (OTA), in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 4022. Cornerstone was architected to create a broad-based, flexible and enduring public-private consortium focused on strategic strengthening of the U.S. Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and provide a strong complement to the mandates in Presidential Executive Order 13806.

ICAM intends to announce an opportunity for a prototype OTA task through the National Armaments Consortium (NAC) on or after 7 September 2023, along with potentially others in the future. The initial announcement will be to develop an additional source for the domestic Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE) industrial base through the development of manufacturing processes to enable beyond pilot scale capacity for LREE materials utilizing ore from allied or NATO sources in support of Department of Defense (DoD) and essential civilian products. This first one, or future ones, will be limited to NAC members and a non-competitive follow-on production OT may be awarded following a successful prototype.

The announcement will be communicated to the NAC members. Entities must be members of the NAC, to be awarded this, or future, NAC OTA task(s). NAC membership requires signed consortium agreements, DD2345, $500 membership fee, among other things. Contractors or interested respondents may obtain the full details of how to join the NAC by visiting the following website: www.NACconsortium.org

This Special Notice is for planning purposes only and does not constitute an announcement or an obligation on behalf of the U.S. Government. Issuance of this Special Notice is not a guarantee of a future announcement or an award and is not a commitment of any kind by the Government.