Aurora Cannabis Makes Strategic Investment in Micron Waste Technologies

Aurora Cannabis Inc., a developer of proprietary digester solutions for the treatment of organic waste, has announced that it has completed a strategic investment in Micron Waste Technologies and that the companies have finalized a collaboration agreement pursuant to which both companies will collaborate on the optimization of Micron's technology for the treatment of organic waste generated in the cultivation and production of cannabis products.

Micron has developed a new technology, based on aerobic digestion and subsequent treatment, that converts organic waste into clean water that meets municipal effluent discharge standards. Currently used methods to dispose of organic waste generally require the utilization of municipal landfill sites, which is costly and has a negative impact on the environment. The merits of Micron's technology have been successfully demonstrated with a grocery supermarket chain located in British Columbia, Canada, which Micron has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to review additional installations.

"Micron's technology is a very elegant solution to a time-consuming and relatively costly operation at the end of our production process," said Terry Booth, CEO of Aurora Cannabis, in a statement. "We love the combination of the technology’s positive environmental impact with its cost effectiveness. Upon successful completion of the optimization process, we will have access to yet another innovation to improve our facilities, and we look forward to working with the Micron team to bring this very promising technology to the cannabis sector."

Micron will now install a unit at one of Aurora's facilities, where the companies will jointly work to optimize the digester for the cannabis industry. Upon successful completion of the project, Aurora intends to acquire multiple units for its various facilities. Micron will retain the intellectual property related to the digester, and shall pay Aurora a 4 percent royalty for every unit sold to other licensed producers globally. Upon the first successful sale of a digester within the cannabis industry, Micron shall issue to Aurora 2 million common shares.

"Aurora, with its innovative mindset, is the ideal partner to develop a commercially ready unit for the cannabis industry,” said Rav Mlait, CEO of Micron, in a statement. “Becoming part of Aurora’s growing constellation of technology partners would result in considerably expanded market reach, accelerate development of this side of our business and provide strong brand recognition for Micron. We are also pleased having been able to attract additional strategic investors in our placement, raising further funds to accelerate the development of commercial solutions for expansion into other sectors."

Aurora also completed a strategic investment in Micron, taking a 6.46 percent ownership interest on a non-diluted basis, by acquiring 4.411,765 units, for a total investment of $1.5 million, as part of a private placement. The full placement consisted of 6,790,000 units for total gross proceeds of $2.3 million. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, priced at $0.50, with an expiration date of 2 years following the closing of the placement.