Western Australia will soon host “one of the biggest medical cannabis facilities” in the Southern Hemisphere

Western Australia will soon be home to a large-scale medical cannabis facility located in the central coastal region of Gascoyne, owned by Elite Cannabinoids.

Elite Cannabinoids is a fresh face in Australia’s cannabis industry, as the company was only recently granted a license to cultivate and process cannabis. Elite Cannabinoids has chosen to lay roots in the Gascoyne region of WA, building a new cannabis facility 800 kilometres north of Perth. 

The facility will include onsite manufacturing, offices, accommodation and over 46 hectares of cannabis cultivation space. Production is expected to start later this year. Once the site is up-and-running, it is expected to employ 40-full time staff, with this number increasing to 70 people in five years.

Cannabis grown at the facility will also be produced organically with natural light. While cannabis is usually grown hydroponically in large-scale greenhouses, organic cannabis is becoming more popular for its cost-saving benefits. 

The first crop is expected to hit the soil in 2023, with the company planting 253,000 plants. 

According to Elite Cannabinoids chief executive Sebastian Cox, the facility will be “one of the biggest medicinal cannabis facilities” in the Southern Hemisphere. The facility will also be using regenerative farming. 

The whole aim is to increase nutrient cycling and carbon content within the soil. If I can leave a piece of land in better condition than when we started, I think that’s a good outcome.

While the Gascoyne region may seem like a faraway place to grow a crop, its isolation is a benefit for organic cannabis production. According to Cox, the region has very high solar irradiation levels and is very isolated – meaning the company won’t have to worry about insecticide or pesticides from other farms. 

As the market for medical cannabis increases Australia-wide, the demand for medical cannabis will bloom. Already, the domestic medical cannabis cultivation market is worth $575 million. An estimated 600,000 Australians use cannabis medically. 

Cannabis from the new Gascoyne farm is expected to reach patients Australia-wide. However, Elite Cannabinoids may expand internationally in the future.