Update on Auxly’s HUGE buildFrom Chuck Jr, moderator on XLY fb group.
https://www.reddit.com/r/weedstocks/comments/aiidat/fsd_pharma_facility_tour_with_chuck_junior/ Hi everyone, I’m back!
My tour of the FSD facilities & the Auxly build went very well. Zeeshan was my tour guide for the FSD portion and Mike (Infrastructure Project Manager from Auxly for the FSD build) gave me the tour of the Auxly build, alongside Chris (Cornerstone head guy - the construction company). I also spent some time chatting with Thomas Fairfull.
Let me start off by saying that my concerns stemming from the large group tour have been completely laid to rest. However, I definitely understand why there was some confusion.
I’ll start by discussing the delay. The main cause of the delay was simply structural inefficiencies in the Kraft building itself that could not have been foreseen until construction was underway. For example, the entire large sanitation piping into the building had to be replaced due to erosion (13ft below ground). The sprinkler systems needed a complete overhaul.
Entire door frames needing to be replaced due to fire codes etc. Now I can assure everyone that there were full sized construction crews hard at work when I was there. At the time of the previous group tour the facility had not received a work permit yet because they were still in the process of removing all the old machines, furniture, unexpected asbestos removal, etc. and getting everything up to code to receive the permit to begin construction. A lot of that work would have seemed minimal to anyone who doesn’t fully understand construction, but I can assure you it was a big job. The permit to begin construction was only received just before Christmas, so a lot has been accomplished since then. At this point grow room walls are going up, truck bays are laid out, large concrete dividing walls and rooms have been built, etc.
Construction is well under way and moving at a good pace. To give you an idea of the work put in....2,300 sprinkler heads had to be replaced. There is still lots of work to do, but based on my conversations with Mike & Chris there’s nobody better for the job. They really know their stuff. And I completely trust that any delays are reasonable and customary for the business. In the space there are basically 4 stages (as seen in my one pic of the architectural floor plans).
Stage 1 is expected to be ready for Health Canada inspection sometime in May/June (obviously that’s an estimate people....things could come up, but I’m confident and truly believe they’ll be doing their absolute best to get it done ASAP). Between all the phases they expect to have somewhere around 63 grow rooms. The technology going into the grow rooms is top notch. I have seen a number of set ups and this is an extremely efficient and intelligent way of doing things. I also saw the floor plans and went inside the spaces for the drying rooms, R&D rooms, offices, staff rooms, etc., all of which will be completely brand new and completely separate from all other FSD operations (this is unclear to most investors from what I have heard). After this visit I find myself once again more excited than ever about both Auxly and FSD’s potential moving forward.
With FSD responsible for operations, I also believe things will run smoothly. The one question up in the air at this point is the lead grower/grow master. At this point FSD is searching for someone to fill this position on a long term/permanent basis. Currently their head grower is temporary. Them choosing someone of high quality and with a wealth of knowledge and experience is of paramount importance in my opinion.
I’m sure there is more I can share, so if you have any specific questions feel free to ask in the comments here and I will answer to the best of my ability.
Now, as for FSD operations apart from the partnership with Auxly......
Yes, just as I saw lots of ppl working all over the build, I also saw and met many workers from FSD. There were a lot of ppl buzzing around the office, including the head horticulturalist, and many people looking after the grows and some super nice security folk. I must say security at the plant is top notch and tight! So Canntab.....I saw CannTab’s space and the equipment was there (pill machine, extraction stuff), but not set up and the rooms haven’t been touched in terms of being built. I’m not sure on the timing for their build out.
I also went through the entire 25,000sqft grow space and was pleased to see yields at various points in the grow phases. One room will be ready to harvest in a couple weeks. One had just been planted. One had just been harvested and cleaned. In total there are 10 rooms plus packaging space. 8 grow rooms, 1 drying and trim room, and 1 waste room. All very clean and well organized. I saw at least 7 workers tending to plants etc.
After long talks with both Zeeshan and Thomas a few things are very clear. Their focus will be medical. And they have aims to find investors and possibly partners from the biotech industry, especially from the US, which is also why they are focused on trying to get on a major US market. Talk of the NASDAQ of course, but NYSE is also a good possibility.....and even more likely from what I gathered. They are currently looking for major investors to help get them to the point where they will qualify to get onto one of those exchanges. A reverse split has been discussed as everyone knows, but they don’t want to do it if it’s just going to hurt the share price and shareholders, including themselves. So they’re strategizing how to move forward to try to get onto a major US exchange.
I’m sure there is more I could ramble on about, but I’ll leave it there and if anyone has any questions please feel free to comment and ask away!