B--THIN SECTIONS AND PHOTOS

Notice of Intent This is a notice of intent to solicit from a single source. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), intends to negotiate a purchase order with Spectrum Petrographics for preparation of 240 standard size 27x46 mm single-sided polished thin sections of rocks and high resolution digital images for each thin section as described in the attached Statement of Work. Award will be made in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b) and the procedures at FAR Part 12 entitled, Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 entitled, Simplified Acquisition Procedures. Spectrum Petrographics is, to the USGS knowledge, the only source who can produce high-quality polish. Mineral particles in a given rock sample range in grain size (from centimeters to a few microns in diameter) and hardness. Many of the minerals that we are trying to characterize are small (10s of microns) that occur at the boundaries of other hard and soft minerals. Although many vendors can go through a process to polish a thin section, it takes skill to polish it so that all particles are polished smoothly without plucking or forming large cracks along grain boundaries. We have been using Spectrum for several years and they consistently provide a section with a polish that allows high resolution electron beam imaging. The purpose of this notice is to satisfy the requirements of FAR Subpart 5.2. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive quotes. However, all responsible parties may submit a quotation by the closing date of this announcement which shall be considered by the agency. No solicitation will be issued. A determination not to compete this action based upon responses received is in the sole discretion of the Government. The NAICS code for this action is 541380 Testing Laboratories. Responses or inquiries shall only be accepted through electronic mail addressed to contact@example.gov and must be uploaded and received in their entirety no later than August 17, 2021.