Emerald Health sees Expansion of Pure Sunfarms’ Cannabis Cultivation License to 825,000 Square Feet

1.1 million square foot Pure Sunfarms facility on track to reach full production capacity in first half 2019

VICTORIA, British Columbia, Jan. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. ("Emerald" or the “Company”) (TSXV:EMH; OTCQX:EMHTF) announced that its 50%-owned joint venture focused on large-scale, low-cost, high-quality cannabis production, Pure Sunfarms, received from Health Canada its sixth amendment to its cultivation license for its 1.1 million square foot greenhouse in Delta, BC. The additional approximately 138,000 square feet brings Pure Sunfarms’ total licensed cannabis production area to approximately 825,000 square feet. The newly licensed area is expected to be fully planted and in production this week.

Pure Sunfarms has also completed conversion of the approximately 206,000 square feet of growing area in the fourth and final quadrant, which is under review by Health Canada with respect to further amendment of Pure Sunfarms’ cultivation license. This further amendment would expand its permitted production area to just over 1.03 million square feet. The remaining approximately 69,000 square feet of the facility is being converted to processing and extraction activities. The Pure Sunfarms Delta greenhouse will be one of the single largest cannabis growing facilities in the world.

“With deep cannabis and large-scale greenhouse growing expertise, established operational systems, and cannabis strains well-suited to a greenhouse environment, we expect Pure Sunfarms’ leadership in optimized greenhouse cannabis growing to achieve attractive quality, yield, and profitability,” said Dr. Avtar Dhillon, Executive Chairman and President of Emerald. “We expect this facility to be in full production in the first half of 2019. With Emerald’s supply agreement for 40% of Pure Sunfarms’ 2019 production along with our Quebec and hemp operations, we are strongly positioned for quarter to quarter sales growth.”

All supplemental lighting is operational in Quadrants 2 and 3 of the Pure Sunfarms facility, and is expected to be operational in Quadrant 4 upon start of production, supporting maximum yields during the lower daylight winter months. Supplemental lighting infrastructure is currently being installed in Quadrant 1 and will be completed prior to Quadrant 1 resuming production in late February 2019. Conversion of Quadrant 1 was completed in April 2018 without supplemental lighting to enable immediate production during the summer when supplemental lighting was not needed.

The technologically-advanced Delta 3 greenhouse design is based on decades of large-scale, low-cost agricultural production experience and extensive cannabis expertise, resulting in a state-of-the-art facility with 16 grow rooms (13 of which are now licensed) optimized for year-round harvesting (more than 80 harvests annually).

About Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc.

Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. is a Canadian licensed producer of cannabis. Its 50%-owned Pure Sunfarms joint venture in BC is completing the conversion of its 1.1 million square foot (25 acre) greenhouse for cannabis cultivation in the Lower Mainland and its Verdélite operation in Québec is completing the build out of its 75,000 square feet indoor cultivation facility. Commercial production is expanding in both facilities. Emerald secured over 500 acres of hemp harvest in 2018 and has contracted for approximately 1000 acres in 2019 to 2022, with the objective of extracting low-cost cannabidiol (CBD). Emerald’s team is highly experienced in life sciences, product development, large-scale agri-business, and marketing, and is focused on developing proprietary, value-added cannabis products for medical and adult-use customers. Emerald is part of the Emerald Health group, which represents a broad array of companies focused on developing pharmaceutical, botanical, and nutraceutical products developed to provide wellness and medical benefits by interacting with the human body’s endocannabinoid system.

Please visit www.emeraldhealth.ca for more information or contact:
Rob Hill, Chief Financial Officer
(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5

Investor Relations
(800) 757 3536 Ext. #5
[email protected]

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