FLIN FLON POT OPERATION MOVES

Company President Blames Uncertainty Over Expansion
Plans

Flin Flon is gone from pot.

Citing failed negotiations with Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting,
Prairie Plant Systems, the growers of medicinal marijuana in an
underground mine for Health Canada have pulled up stakes and moved the
operation elsewhere.

Brent Zettl, president of the Saskatoon-based biotechnology company,
said it was trying to negotiate increasing the capacity of the Flin
Flon facility and long-term access to the mine.

The mine is scheduled to be closed in 2012 or possibly earlier.

But Zettl said when it couldn't reach an agreement, the company
decided to move its entire Flin Flon operation -- including all of the
marijuana plants -- elsewhere at the end of last month.

"This was not a financial issue," he said on Tuesday.

"The line we were always given by previous managers is you could take
all the houses in Winnipeg and there would still be more room in (the
mine in) Flin Flon.

"This was not a pleasant decision, but essentially our hand was
forced... we were looking at increasing the capacity in Flin Flon, but
that's not to be."

Prairie Plant Systems has been producing medical marijuana for Health
Canada since 2001.

The company grew the plants in a mine shaft that wasn't being used for
ore extraction.

Zettl said there now are about 2,000 doctors prescribing the marijuana
to more than 800 patients.

Zettl wouldn't say where the exact location of the company's new
marijuana growing facility is, or whether it's in another mine, but he
did confirm "it's in Canada, but not in Flin Flon."

But Zettl said already the expanded facility employs about 35
full-time workers -- up from 18 in Flin Flon -- and he believes in the
next five years that will grow to between 200 to 300 employees.

"I can see the day when we'll be much bigger than Hudson Bay in terms
of employment," he said.

Tom Goodman, Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting's senior vice-president of
operations, said he would not comment on the allegations by Prairie
Plant Systems.

"No one was forced out," Goodman said.

"The contract had a natural life and we had extended it."

Goodman said the contract expired in 2007, but HBMS extended it to
June 2008 and then June 2009 to ensure patients continued to receive
medical marijuana.

Goodman said the company will now be participating in a feasibility
project with the province's agriculture and rural initiatives
department to see if a food crop can be grown in the mine.

"We think it's quite promising," he said.

Goodman said part of the feasibility study would look at the viability
of continuing to grow crops after the mining operation shuts down completely.

"With a working mine you're providing support like ventilation and
power," he said.

"This has been a great mine for a good many years, but it is
approaching the end of its life."