Christina Lake Cannabis [CNSX: CLC] is having a busy year. The Vancouver-based company, which specialises in the cultivation and extraction of cannabis, has announced its first purchase order for a commercial quantity of distillate oil for the production of vape formulation.
The order is valued at CAD $129,000, and comes from a Canadian licensed producer whose products are distributed in several provinces. As Christina Lake Cannabis can now maintain potency levels in the 90% range for its distillate oils, the management believes it can continue supplying the oil on an ongoing basis, and even provide greater quantities as needed.
Chief executive Joel Dumaresq hopes the deal will be the first of many more: “We look forward to getting feedback from the Purchaser and their end-user clientele, and aspire to form a long-term supplier relationship with them, as we begin to build a market position as a supplier of cannabis extracts with complete visibility ‘from soil to oil’ to ensure top-notch quality of our finished product.”
The deal follows on the heels of another deal signed in March this year with TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness for exclusive rights to distribute TAAT’s proprietary Beyond Tobacco in the Canadian market, where the tobacco industry is valued at CAD $19.1bn. Beyond Tobacco, a tobacco-free and nicotine-free product, is designed for smokers in the US who want to kick the habit, but have found nicotine patches and vaping inadequate.
As we have already written at The Armchair Trader, Christina Lake Cannabis cultivates cannabis using strains specifically developed for outdoor cultivation. Its inaugural harvest in October last year from its 32-acre site produced 32,500 kg (71,650 lb) of sun-grown cannabis is primarily being extracted to produce winterised cannabis oils and distillates for the Canadian market. Christina Lake Cannabis is also developing an adjacent 99-acre expansion property to expand production. Combined, these sites bring its annual cultivation footprint to over 4.35 million square feet, which could enable the annual production of at least 150,000 kg (330,693 lb) of low-cost, high-quality, sun-grown cannabis.
Christina Lake Cannabis extraction operations have increased by 175%
Christina Lake Cannabis’s extraction operations, as announced on 7 April, have been increased by 175% thanks to the installation of the Vitalis Cosolvent Injection System (CIS), a technology designed to enhance the extraction process for cannabis and hemp by using an ethanol-powered mechanism. The cosolvent system reduces runtime and operational costs, and improves winterisation. As a result, Christina Lake Cannabis can now consistently process upwards of 250 kg/551 lb of biomass per day, or 1,250 kg/2,755 lb per week. Previously, the company was limited to three production runs a day, which translated to approximately 90 kg/198.4 lb of biomass per day or 450 kg/992 lb per week.
This massive boost in production efficiency has also resulted in 90% efficacy and a crude extract comprised of less than 10% fats and waxes. It will also lay the foundations for the company’s planned shift from a wholesale-only model and support future growth. Christina Lake Cannabis has stated that this might include evaluating businesses such as fee-for-service cannabis extraction, providing market access to micro cultivators and the processing of industrial hemp into high-quality cannabinoid (CBD) oils.
Unique strains of cannabis at a much lower price point
As an outdoor grower in a part of Canada that helps it to optimise yields, Christina Lake Cannabis can grow and process unique strains of cannabis at a much lower price point than traditional growers of cannabis that use greenhouses.
Regular readers of The Armchair Trader will know that we are big fans of what we are calling Cannabis 2.0, the second wave in the development of the cannabis sector in North America, which is set to benefit from wider consumption of CBD products in the wellness and OTC medicine markets. We also believe that the election of Joe Biden as US President will boost the movement to fully legalise the cannabis sector in North America.
