1.1 million square foot Pure Sunfarms facility steadily ramps capacity and production with industry-leading quality and yields in line with expectations
VICTORIA, British Columbia, Dec. 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. (“Emerald” or the “Company”) (TSXV:EMH; OTCQX:EMHTF) announced that its 50%-owned joint venture for large-scale, low-cost, high-quality cannabis production, Pure Sunfarms, received from Health Canada the fifth amendment to its cultivation license for its 1.1 million square foot greenhouse in Delta, BC. With an added approximately 137,000 square feet (half of Quadrant 3), the total licensed cannabis production area is approximately 687,000 square feet. The newly licensed area is expected to be fully planted by the end of this week.
“Pure Sunfarms is already one of the largest licensed cannabis production facilities in the industry, and we expect completion of the conversion in Q1,” said Dr. Avtar Dhillon, Executive Chairman and President of Emerald. “With deep cannabis and large-scale greenhouse-growing expertise, established operational systems, and multiple cannabis strains being grown, Pure Sunfarms is achieving industry-leading quality and yields in line with our expectations. We expect this facility to be in full production in the first half of 2019, and aim for it to be one of the best cannabis production operations in the industry.
“Pure Sunfarms has delivered to Emerald contracted cannabis shipments that we are selling under the Emerald brand. It is also selling to other LPs, with favourable spot market pricing, as it awaits its packaging sales license to commence direct sales to provincial distributors. Pure Sunfarms continues to implement its plan to be a vertically integrated cannabis producer and marketer.”
Pure Sunfarms has completed conversion of the remainder of Quadrant 3 and is awaiting Health Canada approval for this additional approximately 138,000 square feet of production area. Pure Sunfarms expects to complete conversion of Quadrant 4 (approximately 275,000 square feet) by year end and anticipates Health Canada approval of that additional area by the end of January 2019. At a total licensed area of 1.1 million square feet, Pure Sunfarms’ Delta greenhouse will be one of the single largest cannabis growing facilities in the world.
All supplemental lighting is operational in Quadrants 2 and 3, and is expected to be operational in Quadrant 4 upon start of production, supporting maximum yields during the lower-daylight winter months. Supplemental lighting will be installed in Quadrant 1, which was completed as per plan earlier this year without supplemental lighting in order to permit immediate production during the summer months when supplemental lighting is not required. Quadrant 1 is expected to resume production by the end of February 2019.
The technologically-advanced Delta 3 greenhouse design is based on decades of large-scale, low-cost agricultural production experience and extensive cannabis expertise, resulting in a state-of-the-art facility with 16 grow rooms (eleven now licensed) optimized for year-round harvesting with more than 80 harvests annually.
About Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc.
Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. is a Canadian licensed producer of cannabis. Its 50%-owned Pure Sunfarms joint venture in BC is completing the conversion of its 1.1 million square feet (25 acre) greenhouse for cannabis cultivation in the Lower Mainland and its Agro-Biotech operation in Québec is completing its 75,000 square feet indoor facility. Commercial production is expanding in both facilities. In addition, Emerald has secured over 500 acres of hemp harvest in 2018 and has contracted for approximately 1000 acres in 2019 to 2022, with the objective of extracting low-cost cannabidiol. Emerald’s team is highly experienced in life sciences, product development, large-scale agri-business, and marketing, and is focused on developing proprietary, value-added cannabis products for medical and adult-use customers. Emerald is part of the Emerald Health group, which represents a broad array of companies focused on developing pharmaceutical, botanical, and nutraceutical products developed to provide wellness and medical benefits by interacting with the human body’s endocannabinoid system.
Please visit http://www.emeraldhealth.ca for more information or contact:
Rob Hill, Chief Financial Officer
(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5
Investor Relations
(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5
invest@emeraldhealth.ca
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and are subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions, both general and specific, which give rise to the possibility that actual results or events could differ materially from our expectations expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include legalization of nonmedicinal cannabis; production capacity of various facilities; expansion of facilities; and anticipated production costs.
We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties related to, among other things, failure to obtain regulatory approvals; failure to obtain necessary financing; results of production and sale activities; results of scientific research; regulatory changes; changes in prices and costs of inputs; demand for labour; demand for products; as well as the risk factors described in the Company’s annual information form and other regulatory filings. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent our expectations as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of providing information about management’s current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to obtain a better understanding of our anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company undertakes no obligations to update or revise such statements to reflect new circumstances or unanticipated events as they occur, unless required by applicable law.