• Online state-of-the-art financial service serving the medical cannabis and banking industries is growing
• Company has now acquired Colorado-licensed SpeedyGrow and organic soil accelerator SpeedyVeg
• REFG has also acquired two marijuana strains from the strains’ creator, with plans for more growth

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC: REFG) is a state-of-the-art financial services company serving the medical cannabis and banking industries. The company brought to market the first and only comprehensive card processing operation of its kind. This innovative system tracks sales and tax collection, eliminates the need to deal in cash-only transactions, offers online enrollment and empowers businesses with an advanced client management system. Once focused solely on Green, its comprehensive financial program for state-legalized cannabis markets, the company is now in the process of accelerating its growth.

In May, REFG announced its acquisition of SpeedyGrow, a Wyoming corporation licensed to grow and process hemp in Colorado, and SpeedyVeg, a proprietary formula to grow healthy plants and maximize yield. In a news release, Jeremy Roberts, CEO of REFG, stated, “We weren’t initially anticipating entering this space. But after careful consideration, the opportunity to expand our footprint in the state-sanctioned cannabis space was too good of an opportunity for our shareholders to pass up.” While the company’s energies will remain centered on providing best in class payment processing and banking services, this acquisition provides another revenue stream for REFG investors (http://ibn.fm/6uIfi).

Soon after acquiring SpeedyGrow and SpeedyVeg, REFG announced its acquisition of two marijuana strains, GrapeApe and Birthday Cake, from the strains’ creator. GrapeApe is an indica strain tested at approximately 33 percent THC by volume, while Birthday Cake is a sativa strain tested at approximately 15 percent THC and 15 percent CBD by volume. These two highly successful strains position REFG to grow, market, acquire additional licenses for marijuana cultivation and develop licensing agreements with other state-sanctioned cannabis establishments. Additional cultivation licenses will be sought via the newly acquired SpeedyGrow (http://ibn.fm/vxsOk).

“This is just the beginning,” David Schenk, president of SpeedyGrow, added. “We are making great progress and expanding our reach into the state-sanctioned marijuana space.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Take.Green

• ETST issues new audio press release regarding its audits, Form 10, financing plans and fully reporting status
• ETST has started 2017 fiscal year audit, which is required, along with the approved Form 10, to uplist to the OTCQB Venture Market
• Biotech company is focused on developing medical devices for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields and marketing its high-grade line of hemp cannabidiol (CBD)

Earth Science Tech, Inc. (OTC: ETST) recently released an audio press release discussing its future financial plans and its previously announced completion of audits and Form 10 submission, which could lead to an uplisting to the OTCQB Venture Market (http://ibn.fm/JEWaC).

ETST has completed its audit for FY2015 and FY2016 and submitted its Form 10 to be fully reporting (http://ibn.fm/HDpTq), and it is currently conducting its audit for FY2017. That audit and the approved Form 10 submission, together, are needed for an uplisting to the OTCQB Venture Market.

ETST, a biotech company based in Doral, Florida, has repositioned its line of full-spectrum cannabidiol products. It also conducts R&D for low cost, non-invasive medical devices, as it concentrates on manufacturing, marketing and distributing its cannabinoid products to the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets.

Dr. Michel Aube, CEO and chief science officer of ETST, said that transparency is a key tool in the expansion of the company’s business and maintaining the confidence of investors. In a news release, he added, “Since all of our amazing projects are ongoing with our partners, investor confidence will grow, and we will be able to complete our first big round of financing.”

Nickolas Tabraue, director and president of ETST, said, “Thanks to our passionate, likeminded team, the transition should be smooth as we continue growing. I look forward to sharing updates on the full reporting process as it progresses.”

ETST holds four wholly owned subsidiaries. Cannabis Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company. KannaBidioiD manufactures and distributes in the recreational sector. Earth Science Foundation, Inc. is becoming a non-profit to accept grants and donations for conducting additional studies. Earth Science Pharmaceutical develops medical diagnostic tools and vaccines.

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

• Cannabis cultivation plagued by legal peril and price volatility
• Demand for non-psychotropic cannabinoids is growing rapidly
• GHG hemp cultivation projects now underway in the U.S. and Canada

In California, Oregon, and Washington State, cannabis farmers (growing mainly for THC content) are now suffering from the unwelcome truth in economics – prices of almost everything seesaw perennially. In the case of cannabis, wholesale prices have entered a freefall, motivating farmers to cultivate hemp for CBD extraction in place of cannabis. As a result, Global Hemp Group, Inc. (CSE: GHG) (FRANKFURT: GHG) (OTC: GBHPF) and Marijuana Company of America (OTC: MCOA) are teaming up to grow CBD-rich hemp in Oregon. Demand for CBD and other cannabinoids is increasing as their application in health-enhancing products gains steam.

The oversupply problem is particularly acute in Oregon. Three years after the legalization of recreational marijuana, the state is buried under a mountain of weed. In February, Oregon State records showed 1.1 million pounds of cannabis flower had been registered. That’s about three times annual consumption. In 2017, ‘Oregonians smoked, vaped or otherwise consumed just under 340,000 pounds of legal bud’, according to one report (http://ibn.fm/hqiYM).

Despite this surplus, output is expected to climb as more growers are licensed. By April 1, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) had issued 963 licenses to recreational cannabis growers, with another 910 applications pending. The OLCC says it cannot legally put a limit on the number of licenses it issues; if an applicant qualifies, withholding a license would constitute a violation of due process. Naturally, the excess supply has resulted in much, much lower revenues for producers, who are switching from growing cannabis for its THC content to hemp for CBD.

CBD is turning out to be not only a best seller in consumer markets but also a bonus crop for farmers, who can earn more than $100,000 an acre growing hemp plants to produce it, according to the Associated Press (http://ibn.fm/1ETSk). A number like that makes the joint venture between Global Hemp Group and Marijuana Company of America look decidedly attractive. In May, the two companies acquired a 109-acre agricultural property in the fertile Willamette Valley approximately 70 miles south of Portland, Oregon, to grow CBD-rich hemp (http://ibn.fm/cT4Hg).

The project includes five greenhouses with a canopy extending to nearly 20,000 square feet. This marks the second collaboration between Global Hemp Group and Marijuana Company of America. The two companies are also working together on an industrial hemp project in New Brunswick, Canada. Results of the 2017 season there were encouraging, and the partners are now planting 125 acres of hemp for 2018. Over the following three years, grow area is planned to rise to 1,000 acres (http://ibn.fm/KYnhM).

Recently, the partners provided an update on the New Brunswick project, announcing that Joan Parker-Duivenvoorden has joined the enterprise as project agrologist and field manager. Parker-Duivenvoorden, a graduate of Guelph University, earned a BSc (Agr) majoring in plant protection in 1981. She has garnered over 15 years’ experience with the Nova Scotia Dept. of Agriculture and with the New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association (NBSCIA).

As legal perils and economic vicissitudes continue to plague the cannabis industry, hemp cultivated to produce CBD is looking good to grow. This is exactly what Global Hemp Group plans to do. The company is executing a multi-phased strategy to build a strong presence in the industrial hemp industry in Canada and the United States. The first phase of this strategy, already underway, is hemp cultivation to extract cannabinoids (CBD, CBG, CBN and CBC). This is expected to create a short-term revenue stream that will allow the company to expand and develop successive phases of the strategy. The second phase of the plan will focus on the development of value-added industrial products utilizing the processing of the whole hemp plant, as envisioned in the company’s Hemp Agro-Industrial Zone (HAIZ) strategy.

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

• Biologics offer novel ways of treating degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s
• Biologics are one of the fastest-growing drug categories
• PreEMT™ technology improves quality, reduces cost of biologic manufacture

When we think of drugs, an image of potions in round-bottom flasks conjured up in labs comes to mind, or perhaps pills of one sort or another ingested with a sip of water, for about 90 percent of drugs currently in use have that profile. However, discovering that the human body will act as its own physician by dispensing protective proteins called antibodies to fight the toxins that bring on diseases has spurred efforts, naturally enough, to develop those proteins synthetically. This new class of biotherapeutic protein drugs, or biologics, tends to be more effective at combating pathological conditions with less side effects, since they mimic endogenously produced proteins, which target highly specific parts of the invader (antigens). Unfortunately, the production of biologics is easier said than done; it typically requires hundreds of process steps to assemble one of these complex biotherapeutic proteins. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the PreEMT™ platform recently acquired by Pressure BioSciences Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO) is a welcome addition to biologic development.

The company recently announced the signing of an agreement with an international biopharmaceutical company to assess the potential of the PreEMT™ technology as the basis for a unique manufacturing process and as an enhancement to the quality of a key protein-based drug currently under development (http://ibn.fm/X3R0O).

Many currently available drugs are synthesized chemically, with molecular structures that are “well defined and relatively simple” (http://ibn.fm/wL3eC). Their simplicity makes them easy to produce and easy for the human body to assimilate. A good example is acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), the active ingredient in aspirin, which has a molecular weight of about 180 grams per mole. Generally, such drugs are swallowed in pill or liquid form before entering the gastrointestinal system and blood stream by diffusion through the intestinal wall. Once in the blood, they have access to the entire body, their tiny size allowing them to penetrate cell membranes easily.

Biologics, by contrast, are much larger compounds that mimic the complex endogenous proteins produced by the immune system. They are generally composed of hundreds of amino acids and may carry a weight as high as 150,000 grams per mole. Biologics will bind to the specific cell receptors associated with a particular disease. For example, monoclonal antibodies are adept at recognizing very specific structures on the surface of cells. This specificity means that healthy cells are not adversely affected, resulting in less side effects. This is one reason that treatment by biologics can be superior to regimens developed with traditional combinatorial chemistries.

Because of their complexity, the manufacture of biotherapeutic proteins is prone to errors, very often falling prey to aggregation and misfolding. Misfolding occurs when the normal, three-dimensional structure of a protein becomes distorted, which may lead the protein to aggregate, a result that is quite the opposite of the benign outcomes intended in the manufacture of biologics. Many pathological conditions occur naturally by misfolded proteins. The list includes Alzheimer’s disease, which affects about 10 percent of the adult population over 65 years old in North America, as well as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. However, PBIO’s PreEMT patented technology could reduce the incidence of misfolding in manufacture.

“PreEMT results in the dissolution of protein aggregates, which may have a significant impact on the quality of protein drugs by improving protein activity, homogeneity, and stability, as well as by reducing undesirable immunogenic properties”, Dr. Alexander Lazarev, PBIO’s vice president of R&D, stated in a news release.

Richard T. Schumacher, president and CEO of PBIO, added “Importantly, should the PreEMT technology result in more efficient production of high quality protein-based therapeutics for any biopharmaceutical company developing new protein-based therapeutics, manufacturing-scale licenses have the potential to generate millions of dollars in annual royalty revenue for PBIO.”

The technology is likely to find application across a wide range of proteins in reducing aggregation levels in bulk or final formulations, thereby improving product safety. PreEMT is scalable, and it is expected to significantly reduce manufacturing costs.

The acquisition of the PreEMT technology gives PBIO a footprint in the very large and growing biologics contract research services sector. The company is also busily developing its recently patented Ultra Shear Technology (UST) platform. The scalable, pressure-based UST technology creates stable nanoemulsions of otherwise immiscible fluids. It can be used to extend the shelf life of homogenized dairy products without refrigeration, for example. All the while, PBIO continues its focus on its core product line that generated $2.2 million in 2017 revenue: the development of pressure cycling technology (PCT)-based products for biomarker and target discovery, drug design and development, biotherapeutics characterization and quality control, soil and plant biology, forensics and counter-bioterror applications.

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

• Rising EV output fueling lithium demand from battery makers
• Chinese battery manufacturers hold dominant market position
• Lithium Chile output offers competitive balance to North American battery makers

Lithium Chile Inc. (TSX.V: LITH) (OTC: LTMCF) may be based in the Americas, but its eyes are cast to the East, where, according to Andrew Bowering, a director of the company, “China is ‘building battery manufacturing plants in anticipation of supplying batteries to what drives everything these days… from lawnmowers, to cell phones, to cars… now to buses, to 18-wheel trucks for Tesla.” (http://ibn.fm/48Soi). Chinese companies, already major players in lithium mining, are set to dominate the global electric-vehicle battery industry.

Planned battery plant production in China (approximately 130 GWh) is about three times the rest of the world combined. To stay in the game, battery manufacturers in the West are going to need outfits like Lithium Chile to secure supply. The company has the largest land package of any private lithium miner, with some of the highest sample grades recorded in Chile. Flush with cash and run by a highly experienced management team, Lithium Chile may help North American battery makers stay competitive despite China’s accelerating drive to lead the EV pack.

Reuters recently highlighted observations made by Bowering, founder of Millennial Lithium (TSX.V: ML) and director of Lithium Chile, with a report that “an unheralded maker of electric-vehicle batteries is planning a $1.3 billion factory with enough capacity to surpass the output of Tesla and dwarf the suppliers for battery-powered cars by GM, Nissan and Audi” (http://ibn.fm/V81OZ). The story was referring to Chinese manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (“CATL”), which already sells the most batteries to the biggest electric-vehicle makers in the world’s biggest EV market, China. The facility would make CATL “the world’s largest electric-vehicle battery cell manufacturer, ahead of Tesla, Warren Buffett-backed BYD Co. in China and South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd.”

Since 2015, China has been the world’s biggest market for electric cars. Sales of new-energy vehicles, including battery-powered, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell units, were 777,000 in 2017, and market sales are expected to reach one million units in 2018. Although there have been no official prescriptions, Chinese battery manufacturers are expected to purchase their lithium from Chinese-owned sources, according to Reuters. There’s no doubt that North American and European battery producers will have some catching up to do.

Like China, they will turn to the Lithium Triangle, an area in South America that includes parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. The Lithium Triangle has 70 percent of the world’s lithium, with Chile alone being home to 52 percent of the global supply. Bolivia does not allow any foreign ownership, and Argentina’s lithium grades and reserves are significantly lower than Chile’s, which results in less opportunity, says Bowering. All told, Chile is the place to be, and that’s where Lithium Chile has its extensive portfolio of properties.

The company’s land package extends over approximately 152,000 hectares (586 square miles), the largest held by any private pure-play lithium operator. Moreover, the claims were purchased at approximately $3 per hectare, a steal of a deal compared to current prices of $1,500-$2,000 per hectare. In addition, soil samples have been consistently reported above the 1,000 mg per liter of lithium mark. This compares very favorably with production grade in the U.S., which is typically just 190-200 mg per liter of lithium.

Lithium Chile’s properties encompass 14 salars, or mineral salt flats, and one laguna complex. The portfolio includes 66 square kilometers on Chile’s largest mineral salt flat, the Salar de Atacama, which is currently the source of about 35 percent of the world’s lithium production and hosts the world’s highest concentration of lithium brines. The projects at Atacama, Coipasa, Helados, Ollague Turi and Talar have taken center stage because of their promise. For example, at the 2,200 hectare Ollague, the water table is just 40-50 cm deep, with at least one sample returning around 1,400 mg per liter of lithium.

Naturally, such high concentrations at such shallow depths reduce production costs. “Lithium brine production in Chile is the cheapest in the world and it’s less than half of our nearest competitors. Brine production here (is) in the order of $1,500-$1,800 per ton, while hard rock mining costs $5,000 per ton,” Terry Walker, VP Exploration and Chief Geologist, stated in a news release. The company has also identified an area of 58 square kilometers, at Coipasa, as a high-priority target (http://ibn.fm/pyJVu).

Operating in Chile, where infrastructure is already in place, and with a very experienced management team at the reins, Lithium Chile seems to be holding a good hand. “We flew beneath the radar screen to amass the land position we have,” added Steve Cochrane, President and CEO, “but now we’re about to let everybody know that we’re to be taken seriously”.

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

• U.S. meetings and events industry generates more than $330 billion annually in direct spending and more than $845 billion in business sales
• Unified Payments’ solution significantly streamlines and simplifies event processing
• Solution enhances existing acceptance services with intelligent integration for point-of-sale systems, self-order kiosks, chargeback protection and multi-channel payment acceptance

In the United States, the meetings and events industry is continually expanding across all segments and is a driving force that supports almost six million jobs and pumps hundreds of billions of dollars into the nation’s economy. Recent data from the Events Industry Council indicates that this industry currently generates more than $330 billion in direct spending and over $845 billion in business sales annually.

Leading global technology and value-added solutions group Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) is establishing a foothold in this robust market with the launch of a brand new intelligent payment solution created specifically for the events industry.

Unified Payments, a subsidiary of Net Element, now offers a complete solution for event processing that enables merchants to maximize their sales, shorten their ticket lines and enhance the overall customer experience. The company’s unique solutions go into action the instant that ticket sales commence for an event, and the robust package offered by Unified Payments transforms event processing and makes it significantly simpler overall.

Unified Payments’ solution boosts existing acceptance services with intelligent integration for point-of-sale systems, self-order kiosks, chargeback protection and multi-channel payment acceptance. Program options like Fast Pass Funding, same-day funding, Zero Pay and the Complimentary Equipment Placement Program are offered to all events industry merchants throughout North America.

The Zero Pay program enables merchants to collect 100 percent of the sales revenue for their event through a cash payment discount for customers who pay by check, credit or debit card. This program includes free equipment rental, mobile point-of-sale, an optional e-commerce platform, same-day funding, an onsite technician and an analytics platform.

The Standard Plan offered to event merchants allows them to accept payments regardless of where a customer is located or how they are paying. With this plan, merchants can unify all payments and optimize the payment acceptance process. The Standard Plan includes free equipment rental, mobile point-of-sale, self-order kiosks, an optional e-commerce platform, an onsite technician, same-day funding and an analytics platform.

The feature-rich payment acceptance solutions now made available for event managers and merchants through Net Element and Unified Payments have the potential to revolutionize the way event transactions are processed. Additional information can be found at http://ibn.fm/6j5zR.

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

• Company receives final geological review of the Juina claims, a key element of the application process
• Environmental control plan and associated fees submitted to the local authorities in view of obtaining a preliminary environmental license
• Maxtech Ventures has four claims totaling 40,000 hectares in Mato Grosso, Brazil

Canadian-based Maxtech Ventures Inc. (CSE: MVT) (OTC: MTEHF) (FRANKFURT: M1N), a diversified industries corporation with a focus on manganese mineral assets, has moved one step closer to commencing initial mining operations at its flagship properties in Juina, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The company recently announced that it has received a final geological review for its Brasnorte Project in Juina, a key element of the trial mining license application process, also known as the Guia process, of the Brazilian mining authority. The review, conducted by SGS Geosol Laboratorios LTDA., Belo Horizonte, Brazil, showed values of 51.4 percent to 55.9 percent manganese metal at these claims.

The Guia application has already been filed, and associated fees have been lodged with the country’s mining department, Departamento Nacional de Produção Mineral (DNPM), Maxtech Ventures announced in a company update (http://ibn.fm/dL8aF). Additionally, the company completed and submitted an environmental control plan (Plano de Controle Ambiental – PCA) in view of obtaining a preliminary environmental license for the four claims. The PCA has been submitted to the Mato Grosso State Environmental Agency (SEMA) for review. The company’s Brazil team has also filed an operations license in Cuiaba with the State Environmental Agency so as to speed up the Guia process. Once all of the documentation is reviewed, state authorities will notify Maxtech of government agent visits to vet the trial mining application for final approval.

“We are very close to obtaining final approval to commence initial mining operations in Mato Grosso, where we currently have four claims totaling 40,000 hectares,” Maxtech Ventures CEO Peter Wilson said in a news release. “These claims contain numerous manganese occurrences, discovered through reconnaissance prospecting, and we are progressing well within the timeframe we have set to ramp up a full mining plan.” In conjunction with its strategic partner in the area, Grupo Maringá – one of the largest manganese ferroalloy producers in South America, Maxtech has begun a due diligence phase at additional claims with high-grade potential.

To fast-track the application process for trial mining licenses at its Brasnorte Project claims, Maxtech is working together with the University of Brasilia and the Instituto de Geosciencias to use state-of-the-art technology for data acquisition, geological mapping and identification of field anomalies at the project. The collaboration allows for the creation of masters and doctorate jobs for students as part of Maxtech’s commitment to supporting the efforts of Brazilian universities, as well as geological institutes. The company plans to expand its Brazilian operations into other states, including Rondonia and Goias, and it has already signed a letter of interest with a Goias-based manganese mining operation.

Separate operations have been kicked off in Central Province, Zambia, where the company has engaged geological and exploration consultants GeoQuest to oversee ground operations. Via dedicated subsidiary Maxtech Mining Zambia Limited, the company has filed for two large scale exploration licenses for manganese in the African country. The division will mostly focus on the uses of manganese for the battery manufacturing industry, with plans to supply large markets such as India and China.

Maxtech is focused on three key markets with high demand for manganese: agriculture – where it is used in fertilizer for higher yields and greener crops; industrial – where it is a critical component in steel production; and technology – where high-grade manganese is a key element of rechargeable power cells and in the manufacturing of lithium manganese dioxide (LMD) batteries, which have a higher capacity, higher energy density and overall longer lifecycles. LMD batteries are already used to power several types of electric vehicles.

With the electric vehicle market expected to continue its rapid growth to reach more than 50 million EVs by 2021, and with China being the world’s largest consumer and manufacturer of electric vehicles, Maxtech Ventures will be uniquely positioned to become a leading provider of manganese and a driving force in the green energy revolution surrounding the growing use of rechargeable LMD batteries. The company’s long-term strategy is to grow into an international industrial minerals producer that will provide manganese in both ore and processed form to global markets in North America, Europe and Asia.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Maxtech-Ventures.com

• Gerald Bailey says events in Middle East and Venezuela may push oil prices higher
• Two years ago, Bailey accurately predicted the start of an upward oil price trend
• Petroteq’s unique technology can extract oil from sand at a cost of $25 per barrel

The director and president of Petroteq Energy Inc. (TSX.V: PQE) (OTCQX: PQEFF) has said that oil prices could reach $80 per barrel this year and rise further up to $100 in the near future. Dr. R. Gerald Bailey was appearing in an interview with Fox Business on May 23, two years after he made another prediction of oil price trends, which proved to be accurate (http://ibn.fm/YUqri).

Bailey told Stuart Varney on Varney & Co. that prices could reach $80 a barrel this year and go higher still. “Let’s not frighten people and think it’s going to be $100, but don’t be surprised. It reached that two and a half, three years ago, so it’s not out of the picture,” he said.

With over 50 years in the industry, Bailey bases his analysis on the political climate in key oil-producing regions. “My case is the volatility is so crazy in the oil business. It’s typically now in the oil casino, you might say. And there’s so many geo-political things going on, happening in the world… Iran, Venezuela, and then the Middle East is always bubbling as usual.” Trouble in the Middle East or a disruption in the oil supply from Venezuela might send prices soaring even higher, Bailey said.

As a guest on the same television program two years ago, Bailey made what turned out to be an accurate forecast of oil prices. Speaking about that prediction, he said, “You know, I was on your show two years ago and I called the bottom that day at $29. And you asked me, ‘How do you know this?’ I said, ‘I’ve been in this business a long time.’ I walked out of your studio that day and prices have been going up ever since.”

With oil prices at their highest level in four years and still rising, Bailey said that Petroteq will be another source of energy for the country. The company’s environmentally-friendly oil extraction technology can reclaim oil from sand at a cost of about $25 per barrel, he said, which means that Petroteq’s process will remain profitable, even when oil prices go down. “It’ll make money and it’s good for the country,” he said.

The Petroteq president also spoke of the company’s heavy oil extraction plant in Asphalt Ridge, Utah, where it holds a mineral lease that covers more than 3,000 acres with oil sands reserves estimated at 87 million barrels of oil equivalent. Petroteq has recently expanded the production capacity of its plant from 250 to 1,000 barrels per day and has the capability to further increase the capacity in the future. Utah contains about 55 percent of the total oil sand deposits in the U.S., which hold an oil resource of over 30 billion barrels.

Unlike other extraction technologies, Bailey said, Petroteq’s methods will not leave behind the tailing ponds that blight other oil sand extraction sites. “It’s not this stuff like in Canada that gives you a lot of water sludge and terrible tailing ponds. Ours is a waterless, environmentally-friendly process.” He added, “We will take the sand, treat it with our secret sauce, clean it up, put it back on the ground and, as I say, you could grow tomatoes in it when you’re finished.”

Petroteq’s proprietary solution is cost effective, produces no greenhouse gases, leaves no waste and provides significantly better economies of scale through modular expansion. The company’s oil sands extraction technology has been so far awarded two patents in the United States and Canada.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Petroteq.energy

• Stock split, CSE listing show evidence of company’s shareholder commitment
• PreveCeutical balancing need for unique profit-building intellectual property with mission to offer affordable products to patients
• Manufacturer agreement, licensed shipments advance CBD therapy research
• Alternative medicines market valued at more than $40 billion

PreveCeutical Medical Inc.’s (CSE: PREV) (OTCQB: PRVCF) (FSE: 18H) dedication to developing preventative medical therapies based on the identified health benefits of natural substances in controllable formulations that are both affordable to consumers and potentially profitable to investors is on display in the company’s recent shareholder-approved forward stock split and the opening of trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

PreveCeutical’s shares began trading on the CSE on an “ex-distribution” basis on May 23 (http://ibn.fm/4uVIu), the day before the recording date for the stock split, which was set at a five new common shares for each one existing common share basis (http://ibn.fm/2bYA7).

“We believe the Stock Split demonstrates the Company’s continued commitment to broaden its shareholder base and we anticipate that the Stock Split will make PreveCeutical’s securities more accessible to investors and enhance liquidity for shareholders,” CEO, president and board Chairman Stephen Van Deventer stated in announcing the dates.

PreveCeutical has five research and development programs under way to target type 2 diabetes and obesity, pain relief in a non-addicting manner, mild traumatic brain injury in athletes, cancer and various other ailments. PreveCeutical also sells CELLB9®, an Immune System Booster. CELLB9® is an oral solution containing polarized and potentiated essential minerals extracted from a novel peptide obtained from Caribbean Blue Scorpion venom.  This product is available on the company’s website (www.CELLB9.com).

“When we’ve developed proof-of-concept on any of these projects, we intend to partner with other companies who will fund clinical trials,” Van Deventer said in a May interview with Financial Post (http://ibn.fm/ntpDx).

Chief Research Officer Dr. Harry Parekh, who leads the drug/gene delivery group at PreveCeutical’s University of Queensland’s research partner Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence (“PACE”), who developed the Sol-gel drug delivery mechanism employed by PreveCeutical as well as the technology that stabilizes molecules to make them viable as the company’s therapeutic products. Sol-gel refers to a water-soluble gel formulation that can be used to transport a drug into the body via the nasal cavity, for example, where it is expected to gain direct access to the brain and thus enhance its effectiveness.

“I’ve been courted by a number of entities to work on research projects in relation to my platforms and it’s fair to say that big pharma is not a good match for me,” Parekh told Financial Post, adding that PreveCeutical proved to be a good partner for him because “they understood my mission to translate technologies to medications in a moral and ethical fashion, with the goal of drastically reducing costs for end users … (while recognizing) the fundamental necessity of developing exploitable IP,” or intellectual property, for the benefit of investors.

One of PreveCeutical’s key efforts is to use Sol-gel to make cannabidiol (CBD) optimally bioavailable to patients dealing with pain, inflammation, seizures and neurological issues such as anxiety. CBD is a non-psychoactive product of the cannabis plant gaining wide use as a food additive in homeopathic consumables, but the Sol-gel formulation would allow the CBD to get to work without having to run through the potentially destructive gauntlet of the digestive system’s organs. PreveCeutical recently announced a non-disclosure agreement with a leading drug delivery device manufacturer to work with the Sol-gels (http://ibn.fm/XtOzt), as well as the second successful licensed international transport of dried cannabis materials for the PACE center’s research on the Sol-gels (http://ibn.fm/an4A0).

Grandview Research found that the market for alternative medicines was valued at $40.3 billion at the time of its study three years ago. The report found that 60 percent of the world’s population uses some type of traditional or non-conventional medicine, and a separate report by The National Center for Disease Control found that 20 percent of the United States’ population uses alternative therapies, as noted in a Crystal Equity Research Report on PreveCeutical (http://ibn.fm/3khou).

Crystal Equity’s report concluded that, “We expect 2018 will be a significant year for PreveCeutical Medical with numerous value-driving catalysts unfolding.”

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

• Montenegro’s statistical office notes that the total number of foreign visitors in 2017 rose 19.2 percent, with seaside resorts attracting 54.8 percent of all overnight stays in December
• Housing prices in Balkan nation ticked upward by 8.59 percent during 2017
• Montenegro’s growing, open market economy and multicultural population draws adventure seekers from around the world
• American-Swiss negotiating purchase of beachfront properties in popular tourist destination

As an early-mover investor in the Montenegrin real estate market, American-Swiss Capital, Inc. is smartly focused on a trend in global travel as tourism blossoms in the sovereign state’s resort towns along the Adriatic seaside coastline. Known for its rich array of attractions and natural beauty, Montenegro joined NATO in June 2017 and has been using the euro since 2002, even though it is not yet a formal partner in the eurozone. The European Commission has indicated that Montenegro could join the EU in 2025, which the country’s diplomats and leaders are backing in a flurry of activity (http://ibn.fm/GH9rr).

American-Swiss Capital, a privately owned development stage company with headquarters in Miami, Florida, is targeting real estate developments in Montenegro along several fronts, with properties capable of providing a high ROI. Topping the undervalued real estate investment chart is an 18-unit beachfront apartment development (http://ibn.fm/6RMxu). American-Swiss is presently in negotiations to purchase the property, which is situated in the beautiful Boka Bay community of Tivat – an extremely popular tourism destination. The property has been valued at $4.5 million, however American-Swiss and its highly skilled management team is negotiating for a $2 million price tag. Apartment unit sizes vary from 60-160 square meters, and the property itself boasts a private beach with a fixed pontoon boat berth close to the full-service marina of Porto Montenegro.

A second, very favorable yet undervalued development project is a 36,000 square meter section of land located in the famous, UNESCO-protected Bay of Kotor, about 6.2 kilometers from Porto Montenegro. Lonely Planet describes the Bay of Kotor as “breathtaking, majestic, divine,” and a slice of earth that defies geographic description (http://ibn.fm/WWuxH). The company’s vision for this location includes building a gated community with 30 villas, each measuring about 360 square meters (or about 3,875 square feet). Total cost of this project is estimated at around $9.3 million, which American-Swiss states could be funded by presales and debt financing.

The total number of tourists who visited Montenegro in 2017 rose 19.2 percent to 843,609, according to the country’s statistical office (http://ibn.fm/v8zbP). Seaside resorts attracted 54.8 percent of all overnight stays in December 2017, followed by the country’s capital, Podgorica, with 23 percent. Tourism accounts for roughly 20 percent of the Balkan nation’s gross domestic product, bringing in nearly three times as many visitors as the country’s total population every year, an article in the Washington Diplomat states (http://ibn.fm/w1ZSK).

American-Swiss Capital originated in 2015 with the mission of serving as a conduit between the U.S. equity markets and leading enterprises in Switzerland and Northern Europe. American-Swiss Capital’s experienced management team possesses the knowledge and skills required to consistently provide accurate and reliable research specifically designed to identify the safest and most profitable investment opportunities.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.AS-Capital.com