DOD seeks information on rare earth elements domestic supply chain

Responses are due today for a request for information, posted by the office of the under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, seeking outside help to bolster domestic rare earth element (REE) supply chains and decrease dependency on China.

Currently, REEs are mined in the U.S. or allied nations, but are shipped to foreign countries like China, Estonia, Japan and Malaysia for “separation, processing and conversion into metals and alloys,” states the RFI, first posted April 11.

Manufacturers in the Defense Department and commercial supply chains then must buy the finished rare earth metals and compounds from those countries where they are processed.

“Rare earth metals and alloys are essential to the production of industrial permanent magnets, including neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) and samarium cobalt (SmCo) magnets,” the RFI said. “As the DOD and domestic commercial demand for these magnets increases, the need to secure the supply of rare earth metals and alloys within the US and reduce the US dependence on non-allied sources is a matter of national security.”

To address this concern, DOD has launched an REE Metallization Project that focuses on expanding the U.S.’s ability to convert heavy and light REE oxides and chemicals into metals and then convert those metals into alloys. The project also looks at bridging the two steps and finding ways to directly convert heavy and light rare earth oxides and compounds into alloys.

“The overall objective is to create a domestic source capable of producing sufficient capacity that supports the NdFeB & SmCo permanent magnet supply chain and have the capability to become a merchant supplier of metals and alloys for NdFeB & SmCo magnet manufacturers serving both the commercial and DOD industrial base,” the RFI said.

In response to the information gathered through this RFI, DOD said they may issue a solicitation that could have one or multiple awards.