Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) said geotechnical investigations in the September quarter across all critical infrastructure locations at the Kasiya rutile-graphite project in Malawi, with oversight from the Sovereign-Rio Tinto technical committee, confirmed favorable subsurface conditions in line with regional geology, according to a Friday Australian bourse filing.

The rehabilitation of land at the pilot phase test pit site was also completed during the quarter.

It finalized the selection of mining equipment specifically designed for large-scale dry mining operations at Kasiya, including primary equipment such as draglines, large excavators, mine trucks, and front-end loaders. No drilling, blasting, crushing, or milling will be required at Kasiya.

It plans to advance the project's definitive feasibility study in the December quarter and advance rutile and graphite offtake discussions.

The firm's shares fell 1% in recent trading on Friday.