(Images via Christina Lake Cannabis.)
In the world-renowned outdoor cannabis growing region of southern British Columbia, Canada, lies Christina Lake. 
This region has proven to be home to ideal growing conditions and offers a Company such as Christina Lake Cannabis Corp. the opportunity to refine sun-grown cannabis and produce high quality, low cost derivative products for the global cannaboid market and CLC’s partners.
With so many companies spending massive resources to operate indoors, Christina Lake is one of the largest first movers in outdoor cultivation backed by experience and genetics unrivaled in the industry. A Licensed Producer (LP) under the Cannabis Act, CLC’s goal is to become the premier producer of high quality, low-cost, pharma and food-grade cannabis oil extracts. With plans to go public in September 2020, this could be one of the hottest new listings in the Cannabis 2.0 space. How the Company intends to accomplish these goals, is by utilizing its proprietary genetics and time-honoured cultivation practices, developed by its Master Growers over several decades of combined experience.
Christina Lake Cannabis is a high-volume extractor with its own dedicated supply of consistent, high-quality and potent, low cost cannabis and hemp. This is what differentiates the Company from others in this business who don’t have a low cost, dedicated supply.
The Company is led by its owner-employees who have a personal stake in ensuring the success of the Company as a long-term sustainable agribusiness that is based on the principles of the highest quality production using ethical farming practices.
Location:
CLC owns two prime adjacent properties. Its main outdoor production facility is found right in the heart of Canada’s top cannabis cultivation region and boasts more than 870,000 feet of outdoor grow space, as well as offices, propagation areas, and drying rooms. Constantly monitored by a drone, this 32-acre property contains around 20 acres for cultivation. The Company also recently acquired a neighbouring parcel of 99 acres of land, with an option to purchase an additional 200 acres in the vicinity.
CLC plans to cultivate cannabis using strains specifically developed for outdoor cultivation and is planning to produce up over 15,000 kg from this facility before developing its adjoining expansion property. Once this happens, it will bring its cultivation footprint to more than 4.35 million square feet (or an estimated 88,000 kg of low-cost, high-quality, sun-grown cannabis annually).
What drove the Company to choose outdoor growing?
It offers a means to become a first mover in this area with an inexpensive, yet high-quality offering.
More importantly, the growing conditions in Christina Lake are optimal. The delta floods almost every year, which makes for rich soil. The lake sits at a reasonable elevation, 6,000 meters (2,000 ft.) above sea level, and is also very dry, the driest lake in Canada. Combine this with strong valley winds, which work to strengthen the stocks of the cannabis plants, so that they can hold more flower and more bud, which means more yield. What the CLC team gets on their 120 outdoor strains, these 600,000 genetic seeds, they can sell for $10 US per seed (you are not allowed to sell seeds in Canada unless it is LP to LP).
That can translate into great profits for the Company, considering what a similar product sells for on the market.
- Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX: WEED)’s costs range between $1.50 to $2.25 a gram
- Greenhouse grower Agraflora Organics International Inc. (CSE: AGRA) is $1.20 - $2.00 a gram
Compare that to Christina Lake, which can produce their product
$0.11 – $0.14 range, or lower.
With a lower cost to operate than an indoor operation, along with a more robust collection of strains than what indoor capabilities would allow, what gives CLC a greater leading competitive edge is that they require less biomass to create more THC. The Company has pivoted from being a grower with an extraction capability to become an extractor with a dedicated supply of cannabis and now has dedicated funds to pursue a GMP standard of extraction capabilities.
Outdoor cultivation’s legal framework was only introduced in October 2018, and CNC wants to be one of the first entrants in the first wave to projects to produce low-cost cannabis products. The Company chose outdoor growing because it offers a much lower capital and operating cost structure when compared to the current indoor and greenhouse production models. Indoor production, which dominates the cannabis industry right now, comes with both higher operational and capital costs because the infrastructure, lighting, and labour requirements are so much more demanding.
Compare this to outdoor cultivation, which is less energy and labour intensive while also providing a more natural product. Lower costs can mean lower capital and operating expenses, can even yield a more rapid expanse than the confines that indoor operations allow. There is literally “more room to grow” for outdoor cultivators and relative to their indoor colleagues.
The method that a company chooses to provide light to their growing assets determine the overall health of their life cycle and the 100% natural full-spectrum of sunlight that shines on CNC’s outdoor crop has helped grow plants that are superior quality versus those grown under an artificial limited spectrum of lights.
100% natural full spectrum sunlight is far superior to artificial limited spectrum lights and greatly improves the quality of the plants, while also greatly reducing any environmental impact. This is a natural cannabis product with no pesticides, but also of very high quality.
Operations:
The facility is completely built out; the extraction machinery has been installed and is on the cusp of being commissioned and tested. The equipment that will allow the Company to go from full spectrum oil to distillate and isolate is incoming, as is a backup machine that will go toward assisting production next year.
The extraction facility has four large, custom dry rooms that have the latest technology with an innovative means to circulate the air so maintain perfect humidity. The product can then undergo excretion under the perfect conditions. Subject to receiving its full licensing from Health Canada, this facility is ready to operate.
CNC’s cultivation application includes a number of different genetic strains that out outdoor specific and have been proven to flourish in its local outdoor climate.
The Company submitted its final package to Health Canada earlier this year to amend its processing licence and is expecting to receive within the next several days, well in time to begin processing in mid-September. Once full licencing is attained, Christina Lake will have the ability to sell outside of the industry’s LP network.
On March 27
th, 2020, the Company received its Standard Cultivation Licence from Health Canada. Christina Lake Cannabis had also applied for, and received, a Research & Development License in Q2 2020, to support its cultivation objectives and long-term product development strategies. It was in this licence that the Company found a golden opportunity and submitted an application to a government program around extraction and R&D, from which the are optimistic they will receive that federal grant.
In terms of high quality, the genetics that CLC is working with is some of the best. For the seven strains they chose to grow this year, what they find on average over the years, is that they have basically engineered those strains to produce as much as 23% THC. A good operation can yield 15% THC, maybe 18%, but 23% indoors or outdoors is unheard of.
The properties are set, once the business is generating cash the next milestone is to expand its operations. Currently growing on 18 acres, 15,000 – 20,000 kg is the estimate. Next year, The Company will work on maximizing its existing property and can increase capacity by 20-25% before even moving into the second property.
The master growers:
In an interview with Stockhouse Publishing, Christina Lake’s Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer, Joel Dumaresq, highlighted the team making this top-shelf product possible. For more than 20 years, master growers Nicco Dehaan and Steve Bowering have been growing in the legacy business.
Back in the ‘legacy’ days, he explained that they would take common garden hoses up a five-mile trail, moving them multiple times a week into the hills. They had faced every challenge imaginable as do-it-yourself growers. Their product was renowned in its own right for the strong genetics and potent THC content. Now they work with every technical advantage that CLC has to offer, in an automated, simple, operation, supported by a stable budget. They have never had a failed crop in their history. The growers can work on their genetics and make the best, most efficient product possible.
They found success in the most difficult environment, now they are working in the best environment available, the opportunity is immense. CEO Dumaresq added that the growing team had already seen success in initial crop that they have not seen before.
Timeline:
The Company has scheduled the production and sales of its staged harvest beginning September 2020, with production of oil for the whole sale markets beginning simultaneously.
Christina Lake, which presently employs over 30 growers, workers and management personnel, is expanding its team on the business and extraction sides as it works on its product development and the surrounding community is also highly invested financially in the Company’s success.
As Christina Lake builds its brand, the Company is achieving milestones very rapidly. The site alone is impressive enough to turn your head and with what this operation is capable of doing, and will also be able to do soon, makes this an exciting opportunity for investors to take advantage of now.
For more information about Christina Lake Cannabis, visit
christinalakecannabis.com.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.