Nextleaf Solutions wins patent in South Africa, updates on optimization progress at Metro Vancouver extraction facility

Nextleaf Solutions Ltd (CSE:OILS) announced a series of updates on Thursday ahead of its fiscal year-end on September 30. The Vancouver-based firm said Thursday that South Africa granted the company a patent covering its industrial-scale process to extract, refine and distill cannabinoids, bringing its total portfolio to over 40 issued and 60 pending patents. In a statement Thursday, Nextleaf said the patent granted by the South African government validates its processing technology, which allows for low-quality, dried cannabis biomass to be processed into a high-purity distilled oil. South Africa could become the cannabis industry’s next global hotspot, as the government is expected to rule on legalizing cannabis next month. READ: Nextleaf Solutions completes acquisition of its Nextleaf Labs cannabis processing subsidiary The cannabis firm also said that its oil refinery system has performed consistently throughout its commissioning and scale-up plan, with nearly two tonnes of biomass already processed. Nextleaf told shareholders that its Metro Vancouver extraction plant is currently turning around 200 kilograms of cannabis biomass into refined oils per shift, but the company is confident it can boost this amount to 600 kilograms per day. "While scale is important as our industry grows domestically and internationally, much more important is the efficiency and margins that are derived from that scale, system and IP,” CFO Charles Ackerman said in a statement. “We are quite pleased with the economics we're seeing from our commission and optimization phase. We believe we are well positioned to be a focused, economical B2B supplier of bulk cannabinoids - now and in the future.” The company also said it had entered into three cannabis brokerage agreements covering all of Canada to help it ensure national coverage outside of its existing clients. "With the cannabis industry moving away from the vertical integration model and to a more focused and naturally delineated supply chain, we believe the wholesale B2B marketplace plays an important role,” Ackerman added. The firm also recently launched the OILS Commercial Partners Program as a focused solution for Canadian cannabis farmers requiring economical extraction and distillation services. Nextleaf said it will monetize the bulk oils through downstream manufacturing partners as well as supply the broader wholesale market, with proceeds to be shared between Nextleaf and the cultivator. Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas