Agoracom Blog

Hollister Biosciences Inc. $HOLL.ca CEO Provides Corporate Update $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $OGI.ca $FAF.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:27 PM on Wednesday, May 13th, 2020
  • “As the country begins to emerge from stay at home orders, we thought it would be prudent to provide our shareholders with an update on our operations and some additional details on our recently announced acquisitions, Alphamind and Venom Extracts.” Said Carl Saling, CEO Hollister. “Integration of the new companies is well underway and continues to run smoothly”

VANCOUVER, May 13, 2020  - Hollister Biosciences Inc. (CSE: HOLL, OTC: HSTRF,  FRANKFURT: HOB) (the “Company“, “Hollister Cannabis Co.” or “Hollister“) a diversified cannabis branding company with products in over 220 dispensaries throughout California, is pleased to provide a Corporate Update from CEO, Carl Saling.

“As the country begins to emerge from stay at home orders, we thought it would be prudent to provide our shareholders with an update on our operations and some additional details on our recently announced acquisitions, Alphamind and Venom Extracts.” Said Carl Saling, CEO Hollister. “Integration of the new companies is well underway and continues to run smoothly”

COVID-19 (the “Pandemic”) Update

In many states across the country cannabis was deemed an essential business and Hollister has been able to stay operational in all the states in which it operates.

It has been a challenging environment; however, we have navigated the new environment effectively.  Some cities and counties only allowed curbside pick-up and or delivery of cannabis, while others have closed but others stayed completely open for business using and implementing safety precautions.

Hollister took action to help the communities in which they operate by manufacturing hand sanitizer and donated it to offices and front-line workers. As recognition for our efforts the county of Hollister, California awarded Hollister Cannabis Co. a Certificate of Appreciation for our support.

Today, Hollister’s facilities are operating under social distancing guidelines to ensure the Company’s employees are safe.  The Company has also provided employees with gloves, masks and hand sanitizer to take home.  It is the Company’s first order concern during the pandemic to ensure that employees are operating in a safe and healthy environment and provide them with the tools they need to keep themselves and their families safe.

Hollister Cannabis Co.

Hashbone, the Company’s bubble hash infused pre roll brand, continues to grow and gain new fans daily.  The Company introduced HashBone “Minis” which are 0.5 gram bubble hash infused pre-rolls packaged in a 5 pack. The Company has rolled out Hybrid and Sativa SKU’s now available in select California dispensaries. 

The Company also plans to introduce the HashBone “Wolfie”, which answers the call of the true connoisseur. The HashBone Wolfie is a traditional HashBone coated with full spectrum cannabis oil and rolled in bubble hash.  There is hash on the inside and hash on the outside with full spectrum oil holding them together.  The HashBone Wolfie is currently in the testing phase and estimated to be in the market before the end of May 2020. 

Strategic Alliances with Tommy Chong

Further to the news release dated February 7, 2020, the Company is pleased to disclose the strategic relationship with Tommy Chong is progressing well. Hollister is very close to launching its 1st SKU with Tommy Chong called Tommy Chong’s Cannabis Full Spectrum Elixir comprising a 1:1 ratio – 500mg CBD: 500mg THC.  The product has completed testing, labels are being generated, and the Company expects product launch before the end of May 2020.

Venom Extracts

Venom Extracts (“Venom“) continues to be integrated within Hollister Biosciences operations and the synergies are evident. Plans are underway for expansion of Venom into Hollister’s manufacturing facility in California with engineering and permitting processes underway.  The Company anticipates Venom will be producing in California in Q4 2020.

Throughout the pandemic, Venom products continued to see significant growth in demand which resulted in record revenue for Q1, 2020.  Although these numbers will be disclosed in Hollister’s Q1 report, only a small portion will be included in Hollister’s audited financial statements, as the acquisition closed on March 24, 2020 

AlphaMind

The integration process is underway pursuant to the Company’s recently announced acquisition of AlphaMind (see News release dated April 30, 2020).  The Company believes AlphaMind’s medicinal mushroom based product SKU’s will be complementary to Hollister’s existing product line.  AlphaMind has an agreement in place with an established US based manufacturing partner.  It is the Company’s intention to build out an e-commerce platform to market and distribute AlphaMind’s product line.  AlphaMind is a new entrant in the burgeoning medicinal mushroom sector and is also in the process of developing IP surrounding psilocybin based pharmaceutical treatments.

Future Objectives

The Company believes the pandemic has changed consumer behaviour, possibly in a permanent fashion. 

Hollister believes it can capitalize on this in several ways:

  • The company is looking to accelerate its direct to consumer platform for both the hemp and the cannabis markets.
  • Hollister Biosciences will look to build a centralized ecommerce management system that will streamline the sales and marketing of all Hollister Biosciences non cannabis brands like Rebel Hemp Company & AlphaMind.
  • The Company will continue to evaluate the changing cannabis regulatory landscape to expand operations into new states.
  • The Company will also evaluate new technologies which may be utilized in the Company’s Facilities in the future.
  • Hollister Cannabis Co. is currently in the design phase of expanding its facility to accommodate the Venom brand.

About Hollister Biosciences Inc.

Hollister Biosciences Inc. is a multi-state cannabis company with a vision to be the sought-after premium brand portfolio of innovative, high-quality cannabis & hemp products. Hollister uses a high margin model, controlling the whole process from manufacture to sales to distribution or seed to shelf. Products from Hollister Biosciences Inc. include HashBone, the brand’s premier artisanal hash-infused pre-roll, along with concentrates (shatter, budder, crumble), distillates, solvent-free bubble hash, pre-packaged flower, pre-rolls, tinctures, vape products, and full-spectrum high CBD pet tinctures. Hollister Cannabis Co. additionally offers white-labeling manufacturing of cannabis products.  Our wholly-owned California subsidiary Hollister Cannabis Co is the 1st state and locally licensed cannabis company in the city of Hollister, CA birthplace of the “American Biker”.

Website: www.hollistercannabisco.com

The CSE, nor its regulation services provider, does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Information: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. The use of any of the words “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “would”, “project”, “should”, “believe” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this News Release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company’s disclosure documents which can be found under the Company’s profile on www.sedar.com

#Coronavirus Has Caused A Boom In #Esports Betting – SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment Group $GMBL $TECHF $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $FDM.ca $TNA.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 6:14 PM on Wednesday, May 13th, 2020

SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment Group (GMBL:NASDAQ) – Millions of people from around the world tune in to watch teams of video game players compete with each other. In first quarter 2020, YouTube reported 1.1 billion hours watched, an increase of 13% when compared to fourth quarter 2019. Wagering on Esports is projected to hit $23 BILLION this year although that number will likely be eclipsed due to the recent pandemic. Esports Entertainment Group is the next generation online gambling company designed for the purpose of facilitating as much of this wagering as possible.  LEARN MORE.


Coronavirus Has Caused A Boom In Esports Betting

  • With all traditional sporting events on hold across the world thanks to the coronavirus pandemic many gambling fans have turned to esports, and as a result bookmakers are seeing a massive increase in esports betting.

By: Mike Stubbs

While esports events have still been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, most competitions are still taking place online, meaning no one has to put themselves at risk to continue playing. The digital nature of esports makes this incredibly easy to do, and as a result it is pretty much the only sports adjacent competition that is still happening on a regular basis. 

This has resulted in many fans who would normally bet on more traditional sports turning their attention to the world of esports and they are now placing bets on competitive gaming.

“All of our key performance indicators have been through the roof in the past three months,” says Quentin Martin, CEO of Luckbox, an esports gambling site. “Turnover has risen to almost 13 times that seen in November 2019, while deposits are up 10x since then. The uptick is across the board and globally. As well as an increase in registrations, we’ve noticed an increase in average bet size, almost double since February.”

But it’s not just consumers who are focusing more on the world of esports betting. With no sports to look for sponsors and investors are also investing more into the esports side of things during this time, looking to capitalize on the boom that is currently happening. 

“Clearly, these are challenging times for many people across the world but, for many, esports and gaming is a welcome distraction,” says Martin. “As well as an increase in customers and betting activity, we’ve seen a huge level of interest from potential investors, who are realizing that esports is resilient to many of the forces that affect traditional sports, not least COVD-19 and a potential recession.”

Typically in most esports it is agreed that when matches are played online there is more potential for major upsets, be it because of technical issues, poor connections or simply players being more comfortable in their own homes. While this certainly makes for more interesting matches, it also helps out the bookmakers, who credit this as another reason for their improved profits during this time. 

“Our data shows that we see an increased number of upsets when moving from LAN to online,” says Martin. “It’s especially noticeable for favorites in odds ranges 1.2 to 1.3 and 1.4 to 1.5, where the trend is clear. There are respectively 6.81% and 11.02% more upsets since most events were forced online due to the pandemic. From our point of view, this is certainly better for the bottom line and we see an increase in profit margins.”

Of course the pandemic won’t last forever, and when traditional sports returns so too will the massive amounts that are gambled on them across the world every day, but for those bookmakers like Luckbox who specialize in esports, it is clear that this pandemic will actually have a long term benefit for their business. 

“Undoubtedly, the lack of traditional sports has prompted more fans to consider esports and it’s realistic to expect that, when sports eventually return, a lot of those fans will go back to the games they know best,” says Martin. “However, the potential of esports betting is well documented and these past few months have brought that into sharper focus, accelerating the numbers. I think the growth level won’t sustain, but the uplift will. A lot of fans of traditional sports have been exposed to the excitement of esports for the first time and, hopefully, they like what they see and will be sticking around.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikestubbs/2020/05/13/coronavirus-has-caused-a-boom-in-esports-betting/#45ce220a6b0a

CLIENT FEATURE: Hollister $HOLL.ca A Vertically Integrated Cannabis Co With Products In 220 California Dispensaries , JVs & Partnerships With Global Brands $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $OGI.ca $FAF.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:49 PM on Wednesday, May 13th, 2020

Hollister Highlights Of Current Operations:

  • Hollister’s products are now present in 220 of 600 California dispensaries.
  • Own’s California’s #1 hash infused pre-roll “HashBone”
  • Vision is to capitalize on this success to become the sought after premium brand portfolio of Cannabis across multiple states and Hemp nationwide
  • Major LOI, Joint Ventures and Licensing Agreements Support Proof Of This Vision
  • “Easy Riders” – Milliions Of Global Followers
  • “Tactical Relief” – Veteran Founded, Hemp Based CBD Brand With Nation Wide Members  
  • “Tommy Chong” – Exclusive Manufacture & Distribution Of Tommy Chong’s Cannabis (TM) Full Spectrum Elixir 1:1

“I only partner with the best-in-class companies and I am really pleased to have the Hollister Cannabis Co. bring their amazing Tommy Chong’s Cannabis™ Full Spectrum Elixir to the market for me”. 

– Tommy Chong

2 Highly Accretive Acquisitions

Hollister Biosciences Closes Transformational Acquisition of Rapidly Growing Venom Extracts Adding Over $16.4 Million In 2019 Revenue and $2.5 Million in EBITDA

  • one of Arizona’s premier extract brands and one of the state’s largest producers of award-winning medical cannabis distillate and related products.

HIGHLY ACCRETIVE $20,000,000 ACQUISITION, ADDING OVER CDN$16.4 MILLION OF 2019 REVENUE

  • For the year ended December 31, 2019, management of Venom Extracts reports having generated over CDN$16.4 million in revenue and over CDN$2.5 million in EBITDA from its product line of cannabis concentrates and cartridges. 
  • Venom Extract’s management also reports a strong start to 2020 and is anticipating record Q1 revenue.

Hollister Biosciences Closes Acquisition of AlphaMind Brands Inc.

  • Alphamind Brands is developing a portfolio of certified legal mushroom based natural health products
  • The company’s “ready to ship” product SKU’s include Cordyceps, Lion’s Mane, Shiitake, Oyster and Reishi Mushroom based: liquid tinctures, concentrated mushroom powder(s), teas, and chocolate.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Hollister Biosciences Inc. is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.

VIDEO – ImagineAR $IP.ca $IPNFF Casino Partner Plans Augmented Reality Marketing For Over 80 Properties $SEV.ca $VST.ca $YDX.ca $NTAR.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:57 AM on Wednesday, May 13th, 2020
http://www.smallcapepicenter.com/imagine%20ar%20squre.jpg

If you don’t know what Augmented Reality (AR) is, this quote from Apple CEO Tim Cook is all the motivation you need to get up to speed:

“AR Will play an important role in how we use technology in the future – and promises to be as influential in our society as the smart phone”  

 AR is essentially a technology that lays digital images and graphics over the real world.  

As the name implies, ImagineAR (IP:CSE) (IPNFF:OTCQB) is an Augmented Reality Company that enables businesses to create their own mobile phone AR campaigns with no programming or technology experience.  More than just lip service, the Company recently announced a partnership with Engaged Nation, an award winning leader of digital market for some of the world’s biggest casinos, whose CEO said the following about ImagineAR

“”We are excited to add ImagineAR to our interactive platform. We pride ourselves on offering the most advanced technology to our clients and their customers. We know that augmented reality can play a significant role in driving more customer engagement and trips to a casino property. ImagineAR’s platform is ideal to help accomplish that goal”

That quote is just the tip of the iceberg.  Watch what Epstein has to say about how his company selected ImagineAR and how aggressively they plan to roll it out to casinos. 
If Engaged Nation knows a good bet when it sees one, Imagine AR (IP:CSE) is the Augmented Reality company that allows small cap investors to participate in the growth of the space, which IP says is projected to grow ~ 2,000% in the next 4 years …. that is not a typo! 

IP is not a one trick pony either.  They started commercializing their mobile Augmented Reality Platform long before this deal with Engaged Nation.  Clients include:

  • NBA Sacramento Kings
  • Mall Of America
  • AT&T Shape
  • Basketball Hall Of Fame
  • ….. more

As a result, ImagineAR is now well positioned to further commercialize and capitalize on massive demand for Augmented Reality
If our interview with CEO Alen Paul Silverrstieen and Jerry Epstein is any indication, it sounds like the Company’s growth into the casino industry is all but assured in 2020.

Watch this interview or listen by Podcast on AppleGoogleSpotify or your favourite podcaster.

Labrador Gold $LAB.ca Provides Update on Kingsway Project $RIO.ca $WHM.ca $SIC.ca $NXS.ca $NVO.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 8:23 AM on Wednesday, May 13th, 2020
  • Review of historical work as well as more recent exploration over the past four years shows excellent potential for a gold mineralized system at Kingsway.
  • Historical work showing subangular gold grains recovered from till samples indicate a source of 100 to 500 metres up ice.
  • A sub-angular boulder of quartz vein containing visible gold recovered from a trench with gold grains in till assayed 168 g/t Au. The source of the boulder has not been found.

TORONTO, May 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Labrador Gold Corp. (TSX-V: LAB) (“LabGold” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on its Kingsway Property near Gander, Newfoundland.

The two claim blocks that comprise the Kingsway Property cover over 14 kilometres of strike length of the potential extension of the Appleton fault zone which is associated with many of the gold showings, including the new discovery (downhole drill intersection of 92.86g/t Au over 19 metres), on New Found Gold’s Queensway project to the south. (Note that mineralization hosted on adjacent and/or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company’s property).

Since the Company acquired the option to acquire a 100% interest in the property (see news release dated March 3, 2020) it has been compiling historical data from work completed between 1989 and 2005. More recent exploration over the past four years has confirmed and expanded on this historical data and indicates the potential for a gold mineralized system at Kingsway.

Historical sampling of glacial till over the southern claim block showed gold values from below detection (<5ppb) to 89,000ppb (89g/t Au) in heavy mineral concentrates with 8 samples assaying over 10,000ppb (10g/t Au). Gold anomalies in the concentrates extend over three kilometres along the Appleton fault zone. Panning of till samples for gold grains showed between 2 and 13 grains in five samples from the south claim block and between 6 and 26 gold grains in six samples from the north claim block. Shape analysis of the gold grains showed many of them to be subangular, suggesting that they did not travel far from their source which was estimated to be between 100m and 500m up ice.

In addition, trenching in the vicinity of the high gold values in heavy mineral concentrates uncovered a subangular boulder of quartz vein containing visible gold which assayed 168 g/t Au. Neither the source of the boulder nor of the gold grains has been found.

Previous work suggests that gold mineralization is associated with regional structures, particularly where second order cross structures occur. This has been further demonstrated by the New Found Gold discovery to the south of the Kingsway Property, where gold mineralization appears to be related to structures cross cutting the Appleton fault zone. Despite the recognition of this control on mineralization early on, there does not appear to have been an attempt to target such structures in the drilling to date on the property. While historical drilling did not result in a discovery, there were indications of proximity to a mineralized system. In particular, a hole drilled near the heavy mineral concentrates with high gold values intersected approximately 22 metres of brecciated and silicified siltstone with numerous quartz stringers and quartz carbonate veins containing pyrite mineralization as stringers and blebs.

Exploration over the past four years by Torq Resources and Shawn Ryan included over 1,758 till samples 3,724 vegetation (spruce tips) samples 2,381 till XRF samples and 2,958 soil samples taken over a 45km by 15km (675 square kilometre) area. This work resulted in the identification of an area of 66 square kilometres most prospective for gold mineralization covered by the Kingsway north and south claim blocks. Till and vegetation sampling over the south claim block confirms the results of the historical work and identified new gold anomalies while the work on the northern claim block identified new gold anomalies associated with north-northeast trending magnetic lineaments that need to be followed up. On both claim blocks there is a close association between the gold anomalies and the Appleton or Dog Bay structures.

Gold anomalies in soil samples on the southern claim block occur to the west (up ice) of the historical gold anomalies in heavy mineral concentrates and may indicate a potential source area. More detailed sampling on a tighter spacing is required to test this interpretation.

On the northern claim block, which is covered by a historical detailed airborne Dighem survey, most of the gold anomalies are associated with north trending resistivity high/low contacts and NE cross cutting magnetic lineaments. Significant gold in soil anomalies occur both to the northwest and to the south east of three gold in lake sediment anomalies. The anomalies to the northwest also occur over anomalous gold in vegetation samples, whereas those to the south, where there is no detailed vegetation or till samples, occur in the vicinity of historical till samples assaying between 163 and 1,398 ppb Au that also contain gold grains.

The assays from the historical work presented here, while considered accurate, have not yet been verified by independent sampling as the Company has not been able to conduct fieldwork since acquiring the Project.

Roger Moss, President and CEO stated: “Historical exploration and more recent work has clearly demonstrated the potential of the Kingsway project for the discovery of orogenic gold deposits associated with deep seated structures. The presence of the Appleton and Dog Bay structures on the property with evidence of gold in till, vegetation, soil, stream sediments, lake sediments and float suggest the presence of a significant mineralized system. Detailed soil sampling combined with ground magnetic and VLF-EM are planned for the coming field season to define targets for subsequent drill testing. In the meantime, compilation and interpretation of the historical work continues to define the most prospective areas for successful follow up.”

Shawn Ryan, technical advisor stated: “The Kingsway Project covers some of the first claims I staked outside of the Yukon. It was based on extensive research and ground follow up. The government till sampling and historical work was very compelling in showing that the Appleton and Dog Bay Line structures are very anomalous in gold. The previous option holder conducted extensive regional till and vegetation sampling that outlined nice anomalous gold areas. I pared down the large claim block to the two best areas. The subsequent announcement of the New Found Gold high-grade intersection south of Kingsway has given the district the evidence needed that good gold grades are associated with regional NNE (Appleton) structures cross cut by NE trending structures. These same structural patterns are seen in the geophysics on the Kingsway project. I look forward to the follow up work to be conducted over the next couple of seasons.”

Roger Moss, PhD., P.Geo., is the qualified person responsible for all technical information in this release.

About Labrador Gold:

Labrador Gold is a Canadian based mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and exploration of prospective gold projects in the Americas.

In early March 2020, Labrador Gold acquired the option to earn a 100% interest in the Kingsway project in the Gander area of Newfoundland. The property is along strike to the northeast of New Found Gold’s discovery of 92.86 g/t Au over 19.0 metres on their Queensway property. The two licenses comprising the Kingsway project cover approximately 16km of the Appleton fault zone which is associated with gold occurrences in the region, including the New Found Gold discovery. Historical work over the area covered by the Kingsway licenses shows evidence of gold in till, vegetation, soil, stream sediments, lake sediments and float. Infrastructure in the area is excellent located just 18km from the town of Gander with road access to the project, nearby electricity and abundant local water.

The Hopedale property covers much of the Florence Lake greenstone belt that stretches over 60 km. The belt is typical of greenstone belts around the world but has been underexplored by comparison. Initial work by Labrador Gold during 2017 show gold anomalies in soils and lake sediments over a 3 kilometre section of the northern portion of the Florence Lake greenstone belt in the vicinity of the known Thurber Dog gold showing where grab samples assayed up to 7.8g/t gold. In addition, anomalous gold in soil and lake sediment samples occur over approximately 40 kilometres along the southern section of the greenstone belt (see news release dated January 25th 2018 for more details).

The Ashuanipi gold project is located just 35 km from the historical iron ore mining community of Schefferville, which is linked by rail to the port of Sept Iles, Quebec in the south. The claim blocks cover large lake sediment gold anomalies that, with the exception of local prospecting, have not seen a systematic modern day exploration program. Results of the 2017 reconnaissance exploration program following up the lake sediment anomalies show gold anomalies in soils and lake sediments over a 15 kilometre long by 2 to 6 kilometre wide north-south trend and over a 14 kilometre long by 2 to 4 kilometre wide east-west trend. The anomalies appear to be broadly associated with magnetic highs and do not show any correlation with specific rock types on a regional scale (see news release dated January 18th 2018). This suggests a possible structural control on the localization of the gold anomalies. Historical work 30 km north on the Quebec side led to gold intersections of up to 2.23 grams per tonne (g/t) Au over 19.55 metres (not true width) (Source: IOS Services Geoscientifiques, 2012, Exploration and geological reconnaissance work in the Goodwood River Area, Sheffor Project, Summer Field Season 2011). Gold in both areas appears to be associated with similar rock types.

The Company has 57,039,022 common shares issued and outstanding and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol LAB.

For more information please contact:

Roger Moss, President and CEO
Tel: 416-704-8291

Or visit our website at: 

www.labradorgold.com

Kingsway Compilation

Geochemical Anomalies on Kingsway Project

TransCanna $TCAN.ca Takes Major Step Towards Delivery License $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $OGI.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 7:14 AM on Wednesday, May 13th, 2020
TransCanna (@TransCanna) | Twitter
  • Lyfted Farms, has recently executed a lease on property in Lemoore, California that has received approval for a ‘rezoning’ to ‘Industrial’
  • Zoning designation makes the facility eligible for cannabis delivery, along with distribution, manufacturing, and cultivation activities following the anticipated approval of a Conditional Use Permit and Development Agreement, applications for which are currently being finalized
  • Creating this subsidiary with a focus on delivery, says Blink, is also part of the companies’ strategy to service customers in the current environment and at a time when consumer behaviors are affected by potential store closures and safety measures aimed at avoiding the spread of the coronavirus

Vancouver, British Columbia–(May 13, 2020) – TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN) (FSE: TH8) (“TransCanna” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Lyfted Farms, has recently executed a lease on property in Lemoore, California that has received approval for a ‘rezoning’ to ‘Industrial.’ The newly approved ‘Industrial’ zoning designation makes the facility eligible for cannabis delivery, along with distribution, manufacturing, and cultivation activities following the anticipated approval of a Conditional Use Permit and Development Agreement, applications for which are currently being finalized.

The company has also filed entity registration documents with the California Secretary of State under the name Lyfted Farmacy Inc., to create a new subsidiary with the intention of this business unit being dedicated to delivery. By doing so, TransCanna gains another important business component to complete the supply chain from grow operations to delivery in the California cannabis market (the largest legal market in the world), which is projected to expand exponentially.

“The city of Lemoore has been a great partner to work with. They have been highly responsive and professional partners, especially in this first step towards setting up a fully operational distribution and delivery hub,” says Bob Blink, TransCanna CEO. “The city has really opened their door to Lyfted Farms and been welcoming of our business.”

Creating this subsidiary with a focus on delivery, says Blink, is also part of the companies’ strategy to service customers in the current environment and at a time when consumer behaviors are affected by potential store closures and safety measures aimed at avoiding the spread of the coronavirus.

“We wanted to make sure that we could get higher-quality products from our facility to our customer’s doors in a safe manner,” says Blink. “Having come from diverse industries and bringing this breadth of knowledge to TransCanna means that our management team will continue looking for opportunities to remain highly responsive to changing market demands, and our customers evolving needs.”

This announcement follows news by the company released last week reporting the companies’ quarterly results and record monthly revenue earnings, and a recent announcement that renowned cannabis and lifestyle brand, Cookies, will carry Lyfted Farms products in select locations.

About TransCanna Holdings Inc.

TransCanna Holdings Inc. is a California based, Canadian listed company building Cannabis-focused brands for the California lifestyle, through its wholly-owned California subsidiaries.

For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.transcanna.com or email the Company at [email protected].

Bob Blink, CEO
604-349-3011

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Esports Entertainment Group $GMBL Receives Malta Gaming License $TECHF $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $FDM.ca $TNA.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 7:07 AM on Wednesday, May 13th, 2020
  • Received its Gaming Service License for online pool betting from the Malta Gaming Authority
  • The License, issued April 30, 2020, is effective for a 10-year term;
  • May be renewed by MGA for further 10-year periods subject to regulatory provisions.

BIRKIRKARA, Malta, May 13, 2020 — Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. (NasdaqCM: GMBL, GMBLW) (or the “Company”), a licensed online gambling company with a focus on esports wagering and 18+ gaming, received its Gaming Service License (“License”) for online pool betting from the Malta Gaming Authority (“MGA”). The License, issued April 30, 2020, is effective for a 10-year term and may be renewed by MGA for further 10-year periods subject to regulatory provisions.

IMPORTANCE OF MALTA GAMING LICENSE

The country of Malta was one of the first countries in Europe to allow and regulate online gambling after first giving out a license in the year 2000. License holders benefit from onshore status in Europe, as well as, advertising across the EU.

In addition, Malta’s globally recognized and powerful regulatory system for iGaming provides our players and partners with the highest levels of trust and confidence in knowing they are dealing with an onshore jurisdiction, whose legislation is in line with applicable EU legislation and international agreements.

“Receiving our Malta gaming license is another major milestone achievement for Esports Entertainment,” commented Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group. “Fresh off our announcement of a Binding LOI to acquire Argyll Entertainment last week, we are now in the early stages of executing an aggressive growth plan that contemplates both organic and acquisition growth strategies throughout 2020. This Malta License will be an important part of our growth plan.”

ABOUT ESPORTS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. is a licensed online gambling company with a specific focus on esports wagering and 18+ gaming. Esports Entertainment offers fantasy, pools, fixed odds and exchange style wagering on esports events in a licensed, regulated and secure platform to the global esports audience at vie.gg.  In addition, Esports Entertainment intends to offer users from around the world the ability to participate in multi-player mobile and PC video game tournaments for cash prizes. Esports Entertainment is led by a team of industry professionals and technical experts from the online gambling and the video game industries, and esports. The Company holds a license to conduct online gambling and 18+ gaming on a global basis in Curacao, Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Company maintains offices in Malta. For more information visit www.esportsentertainmentgroup.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. The safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 protects companies from liability for their forward-looking statements if they comply with the requirements of the Act.

Contact:

U.S. Investor Relations 
RedChip Companies, Inc.
Dave Gentry
407-491-4498
[email protected] 

Media & Investor Relations Inquiries
AGORACOM
[email protected] 
http://agoracom.com/ir/eSportsEntertainmentGroup

CLIENT FEATURE: Tartisan #Nickel $TN.ca Kenbridge Property Hosts M&I Resource of 7.14 Million Tonnes of 0.62% Nickel + 0.33% Copper – $ROX.ca $FF.ca $EDG.ca $AGL.ca $ANZ.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 6:12 PM on Tuesday, May 12th, 2020
Tc logo in black

Investment Highlights

  • Kenbridge property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper
  • 17.5 (21.8 fully diluted) percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property

Kenbridge Ni Project (ON, Canada)

  • Advanced  stage  deposit  remains open  in  three  directions,  is  equipped with a 623m  deep  shaft  and  has  never  been  mined
  • Preliminary  Economic Assessment completed and updated returned robust project 
    economics and operating costs including  a  NPV  of  C$253M  and  cash costs of US$3.47/lb of nickel net of  copper credits
  • Plans for Kenbridge include updating PEA, advancing the project through to feasibility and exploring the open mineralization at depth

Recent News

  • Company has completed a Spectral Analysis Survey
  • Survey covered the patented and single-cell mining claims that make up the historic land position which contains the Kenbridge Deposit and the surrounding area, identifying several new exploration targets not only for nickel, copper, cobalt, but also for potential gold occurrences
  • Analysis Survey shows the distribution and intensity of up to 304 minerals, with the first pass showing up to 16 minerals
  • Each mineral can be classified into an exploration relevance for base metals, precious metals and industrial metals

Tartisan CEO Mark Appleby said, “the survey picked out the Kenbridge Deposit, and has shown the possible extension to the Kenbridge Deposit and three additional trends that relate directly to underlying geology and structure implicit in the Kenbridge Deposit. Of significant interest, the survey found two gold trends as well, which include the Violet and Nina historic gold occurrences. One of the occurrences is almost 54 hectares in size and covers almost all of three of our staked claims on the border of the Kenbridge property.”

Industry News

INDUSTRY BULLETIN: Cobalt price, nickel usage limit damage to EV Metal Index

INDUSTRY BULLETIN: Nickel prices jump after Vale trims output target

INDUSTRY BULLETIN: Nickel prices get a boost from pandemic-driven ore supply tightness

INDUSTRY BULLETIN: Have the next crop of battery metals producers been oversold?

FULL DISCLOSURE: Tartisan Nickel Corp. is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.

How #Facebook is using #AI to combat #COVID19 misinformation and detect ‘hateful memes’ – SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited $DM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:46 PM on Tuesday, May 12th, 2020

SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited (TSX-V: DM) A revenue generating small cap A.I. company that NATO and Canadian Defence are using to fight fake news & social media threats. The company is working with US Government agencies on Covid19 and Coronavirus fake news and disinformation. The company also obtained the rights to import and sell COVID-19 test kits from South Korea – Click here for more info.

How Facebook is using AI to combat COVID-19 misinformation and detect ‘hateful memes’

By Nick Statt

Facebook on Monday released a new report detailing how it uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human fact-checkers and moderators to enforce its community standards. The report — called the Community Standards Enforcement Report, which usually encompasses data and findings from the prior three to six months — has a large focus on AI this time around.

That’s because Facebook is relying more on the technology to help moderate its platform during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is preventing the company from using its usual third-party moderator firms because those firms’ employees are not allowed to access sensitive Facebook data from home computers.

That said, Facebook says the data it’s compiled so far doesn’t contain any larger trends in its enforcement or in offending behavior on its platform because the pandemic hit so late in its reporting period. “This report includes data only through March 2020 so it does not reflect the full impact of the changes we made during the pandemic,” writes Guy Rosen, the company’s vice president of integrity, in a blog post. “We anticipate we’ll see the impact of those changes in our next report, and possibly beyond, and we will be transparent about them.’

Given the state of the world, Facebook’s report does contain new information about how the company is specifically combating coronavirus-related misinformation and other forms of platform abuse, like price gouging on Facebook Marketplace, using its AI tools. Facebook put warning labels on 50 million coronavirus-related posts last month

“During the month of April, we put warning labels on about 50 million posts related to COVID-19 on Facebook, based on around 7,500 articles by our independent fact-checking partners,” the company said in a separate blog post, penned by a group of its research scientists and software engineers, about its ongoing COVID-19 misinformation efforts published today. “Since March 1st, we’ve removed more than 2.5 million pieces of content for the sale of masks, hand sanitizers, surface disinfecting wipes and COVID-19 test kits. But these are difficult challenges, and our tools are far from perfect. Furthermore, the adversarial nature of these challenges means the work will never be done.”

Facebook says its labels are working: 95 percent of the time, someone who is warned that a piece of content contains misinformation will decide not to view it anyway. But producing those labels across its enormous platform is proving to be a challenge. For one, Facebook is discovering that a fair amount of misinformation as well as hate speech is now showing up in images and videos, not just text or article links.

“We have found that a substantial percentage of hate speech on Facebook globally occurs in photos or videos,” the company says in a separate hate speech-specific blog post about its recent moderation findings and research. “As with other content, hate speech also can be multimodal: A meme might use text and image together to attack a particular group of people, for example.”

This is a tougher challenge for AI to tackle, the company admits. Not only do AI-trained models have a harder time parsing a meme image or a video due to complexities like wordplay and language differences, but that software must also then be trained to find duplicates or only marginally modified versions of that content as it spreads across Facebook. But this is precisely what Facebook says it’s achieved with what it calls SimSearchNet, a multiyear effort across many divisions within the company to train an AI model how to recognize both copies of the original image and those that are near-duplicates and have perhaps one word in the line of text changed. “We have found that a substantial percentage of hate speech on Facebook globally occurs in photos or videos.”

“Once independent fact-checkers have determined that an image contains misleading or false claims about coronavirus, SimSearchNet, as part of our end-to-end image indexing and matching system, is able to recognize near-duplicate matches so we can apply warning labels,” the company says. “This system runs on every image uploaded to Instagram and Facebook and checks against task-specific human-curated databases. This accounts for billions of images being checked per day, including against databases set up to detect COVID-19 misinformation.”

Facebook uses the example of a misleading image modeled after a broadcast news graphic with a line of overlaid text reading, “COVID-19 is found in toilet paper.” The image is from a known peddler of fake news called Now8News, and the graphic has since been debunked by Snopes and other fact-checking organizations. But Facebook says it had to train its AI to differentiate between the original image and a modified one that says, “COVID-19 isn’t found in toilet paper.”

The goal is to help reduce the spread of duplicate images while also not inadvertently labeling genuine posts or those that don’t meet the bar for misinformation. This is a big problem on Facebook where many politically motivated pages and organizations or those that simply feed off partisan outrage will take photographs, screenshots, and other images and alter them to change their meaning. An AI model that knows the difference and can label one as misinformation and the other as genuine is a meaningful step forward, especially when it can then do the same to any duplicate or near-duplicate content in the future without roping in non-offending images in the process.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/12/21254960/facebook-ai-moderation-covid-19-coronavirus-hateful-memes-hate-speech

‘Something Big is Coming’; Gold’s Narrowing Range to Lead To Major Price Move SPONSOR Labrador Gold $LAB.ca $RIO.ca $WHM.ca $SIC.ca $NXS.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 1:28 PM on Tuesday, May 12th, 2020

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(Kitco News) – Gold futures are behaving like a restless person taking a nap – with the market not moving much in either direction lately but yet tossing and turning a lot.

The metal has been in a narrowing range for nearly a month now, but sometimes making violent moves within that trading band. However, the pattern is forming a so-called wedge formation that should lead to a breakout in the not-too-distant future, some observers said.

“Something big is coming here,” said Sean Lusk, co-director of commercial hedging with Walsh Trading.

The formation is setting up for either an extension to the upside or a correction to the downside, he continued.

“I don’t see this being range-bound for much longer. The next couple of weeks should be tell-tale.”

The metal sold off in mid-March with other asset classes as investors had to generate cash when stocks were falling. The June futures bottomed at $1,453 an ounce in mid-March. The contract then climbed as high as $1,788.80 an ounce on April 14, then backed off to a low of $1,666.20 on April 21.

Since, the range has been narrowing, confined to a $1,676-$1,1735.50 band so far this month. The range narrowed even further to $1,692.10-$1,713.80 this week. So far on Tuesday, the metal is having an “inside day” on the charts in which the high and low are within the prior day’s trading range. The contract was up $12.80 to $1,710.80 an ounce as of 10:23 a.m. EDT.

“We leapt, then we’ve been basically in a pretty violent trading range, fighting to hang onto $1,700 an ounce with people looking for record highs in the future,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst with Price Futures Group. “We’ve seen a lull.”

Flynn described the underlying fundamental backdrop as still solid for gold, with governments undertaking massive fiscal stimulus and central bankers ultra-loose monetary policy. However, gold is being held back for the moment by a strong stock market and U.S. dollar, traders said.

“We are seeing a run back toward stocks and away from gold as a safe-haven play,” Flynn said. “So it’s been struggling a little bit.”

Lusk characterized the stock-market recovery as “outstanding” since the sell-off to the March lows that occurred on worries about the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“If the Dow Jones makes a run for 25,000, or perhaps 26,000, it seems ridiculous considering what’s going on with the economy shutting down,” Lusk said. “But those are things that will probably drive some money out of gold.”

Should stocks remain strong, gold conceivably could get “whacked” another $100, he said. Further, Lusk added, recent highs in the U.S. dollar have probably prompted some selling in gold.

But for now, the range has been narrowing, with buying on price dips.

“There’s a lack of conviction on both sides,” Lusk said. “You see a little bit of profit-taking. Then when we break below $1,700, we see some bargain buying come back into the market. That tells me it’s not over yet.”

There is still much uncertainty in the world, Lusk said. If economies open up, will they have to shut down again due to another wave of the cornonavirus? Markets are also watching to see whether a trade war between the U.S. and China heats up again.

“I think we’re pausing here and waiting for the next shoe to drop,” Lusk said. “The market is looking for a new catalyst one way or another.”

Longer-term structural issues in the economy are not likely to be resolved quickly, even if a vaccine for the virus is found, Lusk said. He also suggested there could be a stalemate between lawmakers in an election year.

Flynn commented that the underlying fundamentals for gold are still “very bullish” because of actions taken by the Federal Reserve.

“We know that low interest rates are supportive for gold,” Flynn said. “We know that quantitative easing is bullish for gold.”

Further, with markets hopeful that economies will start to reopen, physical demand for gold jewelry should start to improve, Flynn added.

On top of this, Lusk pointed out that lawmakers in Washington D.C. are talking about another round of massive fiscal stimulus of perhaps $3 trillion on top of what has already occurred. That could eventually weigh on the U.S. dollar.

Yet, Lusk continued, that doesn’t mean gold can’t correct lower again, especially since late spring and early summer tend to be seasonally weak periods for physical demand. In the current environment, Indian and Chinese demand has been soft, in particular.

Lusk commented that the market could fall to just below $1,600 an ounce or alternatively take off to $1,827.

“It’s kind of frustrating,” he said about the uncertainty facing traders art the moment. “I look for a more pronounced move in the next couple of weeks for sure.”

SOURCE: https://www.kitco.com/news/2020-05-12/-Something-big-is-coming-Gold-s-narrowing-range-to-lead-to-a-major-price-move-analysts.html