Medicinal cannabis company THC Global (ASX: THC) has secured a lease over a prime site for cannabis production in Bundaberg, Queensland.
The site includes 6.6 hectares of existing hydroponic greenhouses plus an additional 180,000m2 of agricultural land suitable for open-field cannabis or hemp cultivation.
THC will now apply to the Australian Office of Drug Control (ODC) for the property to be an additional cultivation site under an existing cultivation licence held by THC subsidiary Canndeo.
Canndeo currently holds all the requisite licences for cannabis cultivation in Australia and has primary operations at another facility in Bundaberg.
The property will allow THC to cultivate and produce an additional 88,000kg of dried cannabis flower in the existing greenhouses with the potential to increase this via the open-field cultivation area.
If the open field cultivation area is used to farm hemp THC hopes to be able to enter the food and nutraceutical markets globally.
The company is uniquely placed to take advantage of hemp farming considering it is an existing licence and permit holder under the ODC regulatory scheme which allows THC to conduct potential extraction from hemp.
"Entering this market would further take advantage of THC Global's significant expertise, experience, and infrastructure for medicinal cannabis into hemp production," says THC Global.
Cannabis cultivated in Bundaberg will be processed at THC's Southport facility.
An aerial view of the Bundaberg site (provided)
"The facility complements our existing cannabis production assets in Australia, where we are currently the holder of all three medicinal cannabis licences from the ODC enabling a Farm to Pharma production process at our facilities," says THC CEO Ken Charteris.
The Bundaberg site is owned by Eden Farms, a producer of cucumbers using a hydroponics growing process.
Shares in THC are up 3.37 per cent to $0.46 per share at 11.59am AEST.
Never miss a news update, subscribe here. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Business News Australia
Enjoyed this article?
Don't miss out on the knowledge and insights to be gained from our daily news and features.
Subscribe today to unlock unlimited access to in-depth business coverage, expert analysis, and exclusive content across all devices.
Support independent journalism and stay informed with stories that matter to you.