AusCann killed the idea of becoming an Australian pot grower but hasn’t given up its green fingers entirely, as a joint venture starts planting in Chile.

AusCann’s (ASX:AC8) Chilean joint venture DayaCann is planting a crop for Canada-listed Khiron Life Sciences from a 30-hectare outdoor facility.

So far they’ve managed to harvest one crop a year, with production totalling 1000kg of dried flower, since launch in 2016.

DayaCann, joint owned with Fundación Daya, is still the only company to receive a medical cannabis production licence in Chile, according to AusCann.

Read: ASX cannabis stocks right now: here’s everything you need to know

Under a deal signed in October last year, DayaCann will provide the cultivation services, and perhaps manufacturing as well, for Khiron who will pay a total of $1.67m for marijuana to be used in clinical trials and for patients.

The latest batch of Chilean pot won’t be used for Canadians or even Australians. It’s destined for the Chilean market, says interim CEO Dr Paul MacLeman.

Khiron is listed on the TSX but mostly works in Colombia.

Show me some money?

It’s unclear when these staged payments will arrive, and AusCann refrained from clarifying when asked by Stockhead today.

It did say they are unlikely to see any of the cash as it will be reinvested in the Chilean venture.

AusCann is yet to make any money.

By the end of September last year it still wasn’t pulling in any receipts from customers, and in the year to June 2018 counted only interest and R&D rebates as revenue.

Still no luck on that CEO search

AusCann is still looking for a new CEO after managing director Elaine Darby resigned at the end of 2018.

She announced her departure in September saying AusCann needed a different kind of person to run the company as it made a strategic shift last year out of the expensive and increasingly crowded grower sector and to pharmaceutical manufacturer.

However, although the company has been saying it’s close to finding a replacement for some months, it is yet to find the right person for the job.

The company repeated to Stockhead that it’s “in the final stages of the process”.

The stock ticked up at the open by almost 1 per cent to 71c.

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