• REFG’s comprehensive card processing solution ensures secure and speedy transactions for clients
• The payment solution tracks both sales and taxes, providing transparency and compliance in cannabis sales
• The market potential for the legal cannabis market forecast at $26 billion by 2024

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC: REFG) is a payment processing solution provider serving the state-sanctioned medical marijuana industry. Through Green or Take.Green, the company’s proprietary payment system, REFG tracks both sales and tax collection. This means that marijuana transactions are carried out above board and transparently. For the government, having such a system in place ensures efficient tax collection in an industry that has been dogged by tax evasion and underground deals.

REFG gives cannabis customers speed and convenience in purchasing state-licensed products. They can do this straight from their bank accounts without the need to carry cash.

Setting up a new customer on the Green payment system is easy, and customers can connect their U.S. bank accounts with their Green accounts. All of these transactions are completed through a secure channel that ensures that every cent transferred gets to its destination. Transfers take only a day to reflect in the other account.

The federal government has several guidelines to be followed by companies operating in this industry. REFG has put in place an automated full disclosure system that makes it relatively simple to comply with federal requirements. Most cannabis operations have a host of cash and compliance issues that oftentimes cripple the progress of the industry. REFG has decided to follow the law to the letter, thereby giving its clients the liberty to trade.

The Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions’ system has a host of functionalities that allow clients to pay bills, employees and managers through electronic funds. In one comprehensive platform, the system manages both client and product information.

High-volume clients benefit from additional customized services such as armored pickups. Cash handling has been a challenge to some dispensaries and the cause for significant losses in profits. REFG, through the secured pickups service, aims to help reduce or even eliminate such losses.

The increased awareness of the health and recreational benefits of cannabis has created a vast market opportunity not just for REFG, but other players in the industry as well. According to a report by Statista (http://ibn.fm/WBQ3e), the medical marijuana market in the United States is projected to reach $7 billion in sales by 2021. The combined figure for recreational and medical marijuana sales is estimated to hit $26 billion in the same year.

REFG is strategically positioned in the market, since its serves both recreational and medical dispensaries, as well as related businesses. Through its compliant payment solution and other management capabilities, the company can easily reach and compete in widely underserved markets.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.PayWithGo.com

• Supreme Cannabis’ mission is to grow the world’s best cannabis and become a leader in the industry
• The company has its “7ACRES” modern grow facility
• Supreme Cannabis recently reported its Q1 financial results

Supreme Cannabis Company Inc. (TSX.V: FIRE) (OTC: SPRWF) (FRA: 53S1) engages in the production of medical cannabis in Canada. Its corporate mission is to grow the world’s best cannabis and become a leader in the global industry. The company formed 7ACRES as the first licensed producer centered on growing high-quality cannabis in high quantities. Supreme Cannabis Company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.

Ever since 7ACRES was federally licensed to produce on March 11, 2016, Supreme Cannabis has been pursuing its mission of becoming the foremost international cultivator of cannabis. The company is proficient at cultivating high-quality cannabis at scale. Since 2014, Supreme has been at the center of the cannabis space in pursuit of the significant opportunity in cannabis, rooted in Canada, with global opportunities on the horizon as well.

Regarding its 7ACRES initiative, Supreme’s state-of-the-art greenhouse, technology and careful cultivation practices underwent development to enable 7ACRES to grow high-quality cannabis sustainably and at scale. 7ACRES’ hybrid greenhouse is located in Kincardine, Ontario (http://ibn.fm/HEBb2). This is a 340,000-square foot facility. Here, indoor-quality buds are produced with sun-grown characteristics.

7ACRES’ facility is the largest of its type to grow with advanced HVAC and CO2 enrichment utilizing full-spectrum sunlight. This is instead of the limited-spectrum lamps used by numerous hybrid growers. 7ACRES has a current capacity of 13,333 kilograms of dried cannabis annually. Plans are to boost production by mid-2019 to a rate of 50,000 kilograms annually (http://ibn.fm/LRY91).

Supreme Cannabis employs a supplier/distributer/retailer model. This model allows the company to concentrate on its pursuit of the best cultivation practices and plants without the requirement to invest in packaging, retail, physician education or clinics. This model ensures that Supreme can focus on cultivating craft quality cannabis at commercial scale.

Recently, Supreme Cannabis announced record revenues for Q1 2019 (the three months ended September 30, 2018). Revenue for Q1 was $5.14 million. This represents a 229 percent increase from Q1 2018 ($1.56 million) and a 45 percent increase from the prior quarter ($3.55 million). Moreover, after Q1 2019, Supreme made first shipments of 7ACRES-branded high-end cannabis to six of Canada’s provincially regulated adult-use channels (http://ibn.fm/ZHsmO).

Navdeep Dhaliwal, Supreme Cannabis Chief Executive Officer, said in a news release, “Supreme Cannabis’ results in the first quarter mark a solid beginning to a historic year in a competitive, dynamic and rapidly evolving marketplace. Q1 2019 results are continued validation for the successful execution of our strategy for our 7ACRES business to establish a competitive advantage in quality driven regulated cultivation at scale.”

As legalization grows beyond Canada, Supreme Cannabis plans to continue to identify new prospects to build unique cannabis businesses worldwide. Its 7ACRES is on course to become Canada’s leading cultivator of consistently first-rate commercial cannabis. The company will use this as a springboard to increase its portfolio of companies and offer growth opportunities to shareholders looking to embrace all that the cannabis sector offers.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Supreme.ca

• Cannabis industry revenues expected to top $20 billion this year and grow to over $63 billion by 2024
• Hydroponics market expectations will rise with cannabis’ fortunes, anticipating a 20.7 percent CAGR worldwide through 2023
• The predictions have captured specialty product supplier Sugarmade’s attention, and the company continues to develop its hydroponic supply lines
• Sugarmade’s acquisition agreement with hydroponics supplier Sky Unlimited and the company’s investment in hemp cultivator Hempistry exemplify its growth plans

Specialty product supplier Sugarmade, Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD) is sweetening its investment in the increasingly legalized hemp sales markets by strengthening its grasp on hydroponic system supplies and inverting capital into cultivation.

Sugarmade has developed its vision as a company that provides what certain food industry businesses need by establishing itself as a supplier for a variety of products. The company’s CarryOutSuppies.com operation provides custom-printed and generic quick-service restaurant supplies including paper and plastic cups for cold beverages, cups for coffee and ice cream, cup sleeves, plastic spoons, etc. The company claims a market share of between 25 and 30 percent of such products in the frozen yogurt and ice cream industries.

The swelling tide of public interest in legalizing cannabis and cannabis-derived products has created new opportunity for Sugarmade and its hydroponics supply business. That opportunity has captured Sugarmade’s attention, and the company stated in its most recent 10-Q filing that it planned to continue concentrating “primarily on the hydroponic and cultivation market place,” along with its restaurant supplies, and that “we are currently analyzing expanding our business operations into the hydroponic and cultivation retail sector via direct acquisitions of participants in that market sector.”

Hydroponics involves cultivating plants in a manner that conserves water, nutrients, lighting and labor to the extent possible through best efficiency practices, and Sugarmade’s products include soil-containing grow bags, odor-resistant transport and storage products, and lighting. Since the filing of the 10-Q statement in August, the company has reached an acquisition agreement with Nevada-based Sky Unlimited that gives it control over an increased array of products ranging from advanced lighting systems to the super-oxygenating AeroFlo 60 aeroponic system, which is praised by growers, academics and researchers alike for its consistent quality of performance. Researchers continue searching for ways to apply technology to the needs of hydroponic systems to maximize the predictability of their outcomes and augment the efficiency of labor (http://ibn.fm/GYBYu).

Sugarmade’s decision to increase its 2019 fiscal calendar revenue guidance from $30 million to $70 million following the acquisition of Sky Unlimited, as well as its agreement to invest up to $1 million in Hempistry’s hemp-growing operation in Kentucky, is evidence of the revenue that Sugarmade expects such operations to generate. Industry publication BitCanna reported in July that worldwide legal cannabis spending topped $14 billion in 2016, grew to $16.6 billion in 2017 and is on track to top $20 billion this year, drawing on various analysts’ statistics. The trending increase in those numbers creates a scenario for what BitCanna refers to as a “hotbed for investment,” and the publication anticipates further growth to as much as $63.5 billion by 2024 (http://ibn.fm/HimsX).

A recent CannabisNewsWire report noted projections that the hydroponics industry will benefit in tandem with cannabis’ fortunes, anticipating a six-year CAGR of 20.7 percent to a $13.84 billion worldwide industry in 2023, with a similar CAGR driving the U.S. market alone to about $3.7 billion in revenues by 2025 (http://ibn.fm/Puo8Q).

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Sugarmade.com

• Providing premier financial information to the Chinese-speaking community for 18 years
• Increasing visibility and investor confidence through networking opportunities
• Creating new revenue opportunities in the cannabis industry with a mobile app and hemp-infused rice wine

ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) is a leading financial information website for Chinese-speaking investors in the U.S. and China. The company has gained its reputation through a consistent 18 years of providing premier financial information and is now seeking to also be recognized as a leader in the hemp-based CBD oil industry. The company has developed a Chinese-language app for the cannabis industry, is soon to launch a hemp-infused rice wine and is in the process of spinning off a CBD division.

CIIX is strategically working on increasing visibility and investor confidence. In November, the company participated in two large events: the Marijuana Business Daily flagship event MJ Biz Con and the National Investment Banking Association (NIBA) Conference. According to a recent article (http://ibn.fm/lLiwV), the company is utilizing these networking opportunities to develop alliances and identify new revenue opportunities.

Da Ma Dian Ping is the name of CIIX’s cannabis-focused mobile app. Currently in the development phase, this social media mobile app will be the first of its kind. It is designed for Chinese-speaking customers and allows them to review and discuss available cannabis products.

The company anticipates a productive fiscal year in 2019 thanks to increased marketing resources devoted to industrial hemp-based CBD products. In December, CBD Biotech, a wholly owned foreign enterprise, is set to debut a private branded hemp-infused rice wine. In a recent press release (http://ibn.fm/Gfs5C), Summer Yun, CEO of CBD Biotech, stated, “In the 10-day period from September 1st to September 11th 2018, CBD Biotech achieved its largest single-day sales of its existing alcoholic beverage products, 70,000 RMB. With the addition of CBD Hemp Wine, planned to launch in December 2018, we anticipate even better sales performance during the upcoming holiday/festival season.”

While the following has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, CBD Biotech believes that hemp and rice wine holds potential for long-term benefits. This is based on the villagers of Bama, who attribute their long life to a combination of rice wine, snake wine and a soup made from hemp seeds. This small village boasts 73 elders over the age of 100 and is known as the “longevity town of China.”

CIIX has recognized the opportunity to capitalize on the growing market of CBD-based nutrition and health products in the United States and is working to create additional relevant products.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ChineseInvestors.com

• China is Brazil’s largest trading partner
• Chinese President Xi Jinping promoted trade relations at China International Import Expo on November 5-10
• eCommerce platforms like Pacific Software’s Agri-Blockchain expected to boost trade

Trade between Brazil and China, the largest countries in South America and Asia, looks set to increase further after the recently concluded import fair put on by the Chinese authorities. The gravity of the trade initiative was marked by the presence of President Xi Jinping, who gave the opening address to the exhibitors gathered at the National Convention & Exhibition Center in Shanghai, China. The China International Import Expo (CIIE) ran for six days, November 5-10, in China’s largest city. The official word is that Brazilian exporters will have better access to Chinese markets through platforms like Alibaba.com and Tmall.com, highlighting the importance of such technologies. Given its capability to provide a highly effective trust mechanism that can track complex transactions using cryptographically secure Hyperledger Blockchain technology, the proprietary e-commerce trade platform under development by Pacific Software, Inc. (OTC: PFSF) could also play a role in boosting trade between the Asian and Latin American giants.

Many barriers separate Brazil from China. The metaphorical crow must cross two continents – Africa and Europe – if it embarks on a flight path from Brazilia to Beijing. With a time difference of 10 hours between the two capitals, day and night are inverted, reflecting their locations on the globe. In addition to which must be added formidable linguistic and cultural differences. Yet, since 2009, China has been Brazil’s largest trading partner.

The potential for further development of trade is substantial, as a comparison of China-U.S. and China-Brazil trade will reveal. In 2017, China bought $130 billion of U.S. goods; it sold $505.5 billion worth to the U.S. However, Brazilian exports to China run at around $40 billion per annum, while imports from China are even less than that. As trade tensions between China and the U.S. escalate, there is increasing incentive for Beijing to expand this trading relationship by leveraging an ecommerce platform like the one under development by Pacific Software.

The technology, designed to work as an overlay to existing international distribution channels, is meant initially to facilitate trade between exporters in Brazil and importers in China, but, naturally, it has wider application. It is being developed using IBM’s Hyperledger Blockchain “Backend as a Service” (BaaS) infrastructure. The IBM BaaS platform has the capability to record, store and track a variety of digital product information, such as farm origination details, batch numbers, factory and processing data, expiration dates, storage temperatures and shipping details. Pacific Software has commissioned Cobalt 47 Technologies Ltd., a spin-off of KBQuest Group, to construct the multi-lingual e-commerce B2B and B2C trade platform. KBQuest Group, Inc. is the leading Microsoft distributor in China and was named “Microsoft SQL Partner of the Year 2017.”

PFSF is advised on technical issues by Dr. Wang-Chan Wong, founder and chairman of KBQ Quest Group Inc., the parent company of KB Quest Hong Kong Limited, who has over 25 years of global IT enterprise expertise. Wong has also served as adviser to the California Institute of Food and Agriculture Research (CIFAR) since 2015 and is well positioned to provide computer science knowledge to the agriculture sector globally. He has been a tenured professor of information systems and computer science at California State University for over 28 years, has written 43 technical papers and has developed numerous software systems and applications for Oracle, Microsoft and IBM.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.PacificSoftwareInc.com

• Earth Science Tech is a biotechnology company with diverse subsidiaries
• The company operates in the hemp cannabinoid, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, medical device and research and development fields
• It is now filming its ‘As Seen On TV’ Campaign in Florida

Earth Science Tech, Inc. (OTCQB: ETST), via its wholly owned subsidiaries, operates in the fields of hemp cannabinoids, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and research and development. A biotechnology company, its three subsidiaries are Earth Science Pharmaceutical, Inc., Cannabis Therapeutics, Inc. and KannaBidioid, Inc. Its Canadian subsidiary is Canna Inno Laboratories, Inc. Earth Science Tech has its corporate office in Doral, Florida.

The company’s business model features a strong in-house team united with strategic partnerships (http://ibn.fm/grQcA). This is for the advancement of additional research and development projects using its high-grade and novel products. Its subsidiaries concentrate on the development of Earth Science Tech’s role as a global leader in the cannabinoid sector. These subsidiaries also focus on expanding the company’s work and bringing to market innovative pharmaceuticals and medical device products.

Subsidiary Earth Science Pharmaceutical is focused on becoming a global leader in the development of low cost, non-invasive diagnostic tools, medical devices, testing processes and vaccines for sexually transmitted infections and/or diseases. Cannabis Therapeutics, Inc.’s concentration is on developing new, ground-breaking, cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products.

KannaBidioid, Inc. focuses on manufacturing and distributing vapes/e-liquids and gummy edibles in the recreational space by leveraging its inventive Kanna and cannabinoid formula. Canadian subsidiary Canna Inno Laboratories, Inc. of Montreal gives Earth Science Tech a position in the Province of Québec. It provides the company with access to government grants, with the first just receiving approval.

Recently, Earth Science Tech started filming for its media campaign with an As Seen On TV production company (http://ibn.fm/7kcpB). The film will air across the nation in the first quarter of 2019. Moreover, it will be shared by way of social media for ideal brand awareness. Earth Science Tech owns the rights to the material and how it will be distributed and used in retail locations. This film will include an interview with a customer whose life was positively changed by the company’s high-grade, full spectrum cannabinoids.

In September 2018, Earth Science Tech signed an agreement for an As Seen On TV campaign. This campaign will include a 60-second Direct Response Television commercial spot to be aired 300 times within 10 select regions on select networks. The campaign will also include a 15-second promotional video to be used for digital and social media purposes and a featured placement on the website for one year. Furthermore, it will include complete licensing rights to the commercial spot and promotional video, as well as permission to use the As Seen On TV logo on the company’s products.

The campaign production commences in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This is where Rhoda Friedman shares how the company’s cannabinoid products have provided relief from pain she has suffered for more than three decades. Earth Science Tech President, Director and Chairman Nickolas S. Tabraue said in a news release, “I am excited that we have started production and that we have Rhoda Friedman to share her amazing story with the world.”

Earth Science Tech continues to work to advance its role as an international leader in the cannabinoid sector. The company’s management team consists of industry experts with decades of experience in the nutraceutical, dietary supplement and life sciences fields. This bodes well for the success of its initiatives and offers investors the potential for significant returns.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.EarthScienceTech.com

• Digitalization of the grid facilitates more efficient power consumption
• Progression of power generation from coal to natural gas, nuclear and renewables
• Zenergy’s competitive advantage: energy provision and energy conservation

In just one generation, digitalization has transmogrified the world. With streaming movies, it has brought the cinema into our homes. E-commerce has done the same for main street retailing. Also, social media seems to have made geographical location redundant; it’s as easy to communicate with someone in Timbuktu as it is with a neighbor down the street.

Now, with “virtual utility” companies like Zenergy Brands, Inc. (OTC: ZNGY), digitalization is giving us a way to consume energy more efficiently and responsibly. Zenergy has developed a suite of cost-saving energy solutions utilizing the latest digital technologies. The company also owns a Retail Electric Provider (REP), which gives it an excellent platform to market its “smart energy” services. Zenergy is out to make the virtual utility a reality.

For decades, utilities have been anything but virtual. Typically, with massive public corporations, their facilities dominate the landscape as thoroughly as their monopolistic power controls the market. However, digital technologies have eroded this primacy by enabling virtual utilities, which employ software-based technologies to manage independent energy resources from disparate locations and combine them into a network.

The energy market is not what it used to be. In the past, power plants were mainly fueled by coal, but coal’s share had fallen to about 30 percent by 2017, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (http://ibn.fm/8eEtx). Now natural gas, which accounts for about 32 percent of electricity generation, has taken top place. Nuclear energy provides about 20 percent, while renewable energy sources – hydropower, wind, biomass, geothermal and solar – generate another 17 percent or so. This diversification of sources has reduced cost and increased reliability.

However, too much of one thing is good for nothing. With myriad sources connected to the grid, the danger of reverse power flows is a constant danger. With traditional grids, power flow is unidirectional: from utility to users. With several sources feeding the network, multi-directional power flows result, creating a variety of technical challenges (http://ibn.fm/UDveq).

A virtual utility like Zenergy can help resolve those difficulties because of its technological solutions, mainly the Zero Cost Program, and its position as an energy provider. The Zero Cost Program allows customers to upgrade their energy gadgets to more efficient, cost-reducing appliances at no additional expense. The program reduces utility consumption by 20-60 percent by furnishing energy conservation, smart controls and efficiency-based products and services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal end-use customers.

As awareness of environmental issues increases, the program is likely to resonate with both corporate and residential customers, particularly as it is a turnkey solution that requires no upfront expenditure. Under the Zero Cost Program, Zenergy upgrades customers’ older, inefficient energy infrastructure and implements a variety of retrofits, including HVAC and refrigeration motor controllers, load factor technologies, building-envelope-based technologies, weatherization-based technologies, smart controls, LED lighting and other energy-saving solutions.

Moreover, through its Retail Electric Provider (REP) division, Zenergy is well positioned to make the Zero Cost Program available to both residential and commercial customers. Bundling energy provision with energy efficiency services gives Zenergy a competitive advantage in the Texas market, where the company is based. The Texas market has over six million residential meters and nearly two million commercial meters.

Zenergy’s strategy as a retail energy provider is to create a beachhead in Texas and then expand to other deregulated markets across the nation. To date, 16 states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia – and Washington DC have deregulated markets for electricity (http://ibn.fm/LgZ7t).

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ZenergyBrands.com

• GreenBox is an industry leader in the point of sale (POS) marketplace due to the company’s emphasis on intuitive design, security and ease of use
• The company is already seeing applications for its products exceeding its 2019 annual transactional volume goal of $1 billion
• GreenBox is continually adding to its list of partners in order to expand its bandwidth to meet the needs of a growing customer base

GreenBox POS, LLC (OTC: GRBX), a noteworthy hardware and software technology company, is creating cutting-edge products that are safe, easy to use, intuitive and customized to clients’ needs. Specifically, its point of sale system has garnered much attention, earning loyalty with clients.

Demand for intuitive, customer-friendly POS systems has increased in recent years due to the high number of independent contractors and small business owners joining the job market. According to a Gallup poll (http://ibn.fm/7za4E), 36 percent of U.S. workers cited having some form of “gig” arrangement in 2018, with “gig” defined as a broad category including “contingent workers, independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers and temporary workers.” Today, it is rare to encounter even the smallest business operating on cash alone, and many of these entrepreneurs, whether they be operating a food truck or an Etsy store, are searching for high quality digital ledger systems to keep their finances in order.

GreenBox is one such leader in the POS system marketplace. Offering products for a multitude of industries, the company prides itself on providing advantages over competing brands. The company is becoming known as the gold standard for the way all financial ledgers, for any industry, are created and maintained. Consequently, the company registered five provisional patents for its technology products. It is led by an accomplished team of industry experts with a wide array of experience. One such leader, Executive Vice President Ben Errez, has held prestigious positions at IBM, Microsoft Office and Intel, lending his experience with payment systems, security, reliability and privacy of software and hardware development to those companies.

In the next year, GreenBox is preparing for significant growth. Applications for the company’s services have already exceeded the 2019 goal of $1 billion in annual processing volume (http://ibn.fm/tIKDR). In anticipation of this increased demand, the company is adding strategic partners to increase its bandwidth, growing its customer base and boosting employee count.

This growth is due in large part to GreenBox’s exceptional menu of products. In a recent interview, Errez described the benefits of one such product: Quick Card, the brand name for the company’s new payment infrastructure. One main advantage of Quick Card, he explained, is merchants’ ability to receive payment promptly, without waiting several days for funds to go through (http://ibn.fm/VGvY1). The system is fraud-resistant and has significantly improved the ease of both cash and cashless transactions between merchants and customers. Other GreenBox products include LOOPZ, a delivery software solution; and Point-Of-Sale Solutions, GreenBox’s own software, developed in-house and loaded with various desirable features.

The future looks promising for GreenBox. The company reports that over 98 percent of all transactions using Quick Card end with a client downloading and installing the new application on any platform. Additionally, no client has ever withdrawn from the system to date, and transaction volumes are increasing every week (http://ibn.fm/idTXu).

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.GreenBoxPOS.com

• New laws focused on industrial and business waste management provide recycling and sustainability companies in China with an opportunity to grow
• TMSR’s proprietary and patented technologies establish its leadership position in the field of industrial solid waste management
• China’s solid waste recycling industry is growing rapidly, with revenue generated in 2018 expected to reach $16.2 billion

New laws in China are yet another demonstration of the country’s commitment to reducing and eliminating waste. As per the recent government regulations, companies will be required to implement more effective measures for the management of the waste they generate. TMSR Holding Company Limited (NASDAQ: TMSR), which focuses on developing innovative industrial and mining waste management solutions, is gaining wonderful opportunities from the new legislative framework to grow its business and further solidify its leadership position in the recycling industry.

Through its patented technology, TMSR has developed processes for the extraction of useful materials out of industrial waste like aluminum slag, copper and iron mine tailings, as well as red mud manganese tailings.

The process is unique, giving TMSR an industry advantage. Traditional recovery methods are chemical-based, contributing to some waste generation. TMSR’s process is different, because it does not generate any waste during the extraction process.

Through its patented technology, TMSR has managed to turn solid waste residues into valuable, high quality construction materials.

Even after the Chinese government banned two dozen types of recyclable waste from getting imported into the country, the solid waste volume is continuing to grow. At the same time, the need for resources is growing, and concerns about industrial pollution are getting more widespread than ever before. These factors and higher levels of awareness in terms of sustainability have resulted in higher demand for effective waste management service provision.

Between 2014 and 2018, revenue from the recycling of solid waste increased at an annual rate of 13.5 percent. The revenue is estimated to reach $16.2 billion by the end of 2018 (http://ibn.fm/AOuLv). Similar trends are observed on a global scale. The global solid waste recycling market is expected to generate $282.1 billion in 2018 (http://ibn.fm/GTf6i).

TMSR specializes in the creation of personalized, tailored solutions that address the specific needs of different industry representatives. Additionally, the company supports principles of sustainability to modernize the waste recycling market and to also extend the lifecycle of valuable industrial products or resources.

Through its subsidiaries – Shengrong Environmental and Wuhan HOST Coating Materials – TMSR holds two international U.S. patents and six Chinese patents for its proprietary technologies. These include three invention patents and three utility model patents.

Some of the award-winning solutions developed by the company include its proprietary pollution-free method for the processing of recycling tailings and methods for handling manganese slag – a substance that poses both health and environmental hazards and that can be very difficult to dispose of.

Apart from recycling solid waste, Shengrong Environmental also sells processing equipment that businesses can use for the purpose of achieving greener and more effective solid waste disposal.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.TMSRHolding.com

• Cobalt hydroxide is being assessed as a potential feed for the First Cobalt Refinery, which will potentially be reopened in the future
• Discussions are underway with various metal trading companies for the ethical delivery of the resource
• First Cobalt has partnered with SGS Canada to test processing of cobalt hydroxide and other materials via the existing First Cobalt Refinery flowsheet

North American pure-play cobalt company First Cobalt Corp. (TSX.V: FCC) (OTCQX: FTSSF) (ASX: FCC) recently announced that it has begun testing cobalt hydroxide material as feedstock for its cobalt refinery (http://ibn.fm/dbtu5).

As part of the process, First Cobalt partnered up with Canadian mineral processing company SGS Canada, which will test cobalt hydroxide and other materials through the existing First Cobalt Refinery flowsheet. The steps are needed to test the production potential of cobalt sulphate or cobalt metal.

Apart from this partnership, First Cobalt is also negotiating with companies that specialize in the ethical sourcing of cobalt concentrate with a view toward ensuring the future feedstock for a potential restart of the refinery.

The aim is to enter a long-term agreement for a reliable source of ethically-mined cobalt, company president and CEO Trent Mell said in a news release. The cash flow potential from restarting the refinery could allow First Cobalt to finance a lot of the work on its flagship Iron Creek Cobalt Project in the state of Idaho. At the same time, the refinery will provide an important North American cobalt source, Mell noted.

The First Cobalt Refinery is located in the Canadian Cobalt Camp, 500 kilometers away from the U.S. border, and it is currently the only permitted cobalt refinery in North America capable of producing battery materials. First Cobalt has already carried out independent studies to determine the capital requirements, permit renewal timelines and operating costs associated with reopening the refinery, as well as the refinery’s potential feedstock options. The results were presented on October 10, 2018 (http://ibn.fm/KTTkM).

At a feed rate of 24 metric tons per day, the capital cost of the restart was estimated at $25.7 million, including a 30 percent contingency. According to the review, a restart of the refinery is possible within 18 months of selecting a feedstock.

First Cobalt Corp. is thus researching various feed sources. These could include cobalt concentrate, recycled battery materials and cobalt hydroxide. Through a bit of flowsheet modification, the First Cobalt Refinery could produce cobalt sulphate for the lithium ion battery industry or cobalt metal for the North American aerospace industry. According to current market indicators, the price of cobalt sulphate is similar to that of cobalt metal.

Before halting operations in 2015, the First Cobalt Refinery produced cobalt carbonate, silver precipitate and nickel carbonate. A modification of the flowsheet will be required to commence the cobalt sulphate production.

A final decision about the reactivation of the refinery is yet expected. The decision is heavily dependent on the studies and the ongoing discussions with potential First Cobalt partners.

First Cobalt is a North American pure-play cobalt company whose flagship asset is the Iron Creek Cobalt Project in Idaho, which has inferred mineral resources of 26.9 million tonnes grading 0.11 percent cobalt equivalent. The company’s other assets include 50 past-producing mines in the Canadian Cobalt Camp and the only permitted cobalt refinery in North America capable of producing battery materials.

For more information, visit the company’s website at http://ibn.fm/FTSSF