Exploration Maps vs MapInfo for Mining Maps

MapInfo Pro is an established enterprise GIS platform used at major mining companies and geological surveys, particularly in Canada and Australia. For junior exploration companies that need investor-ready maps quickly without a dedicated GIS professional, Exploration Maps is significantly faster, lower cost, and requires no installation or training.

What MapInfo Is Used For in Mining

MapInfo Pro (now Precisely MapInfo Pro) has a long history in the Canadian and Australian mining industries — it was the dominant GIS platform at major mining companies and geological surveys before ArcGIS gained its current market position. Many exploration databases (including Geoscience BC, Ontario Geological Survey, and Geoscience Australia) distribute data in MapInfo TAB format. As a result, some junior companies inherit MapInfo-based workflows when acquiring projects from majors or accessing government datasets.

Speed and Ease of Use

MapInfo Pro is a full-featured desktop GIS application. Producing a presentation-quality map — with a clean layout, styled title block, legend, north arrow, and scale bar — requires working in the Layout Designer module and typically takes 1–3 hours for an experienced user. For someone new to the software, expect a multi-day learning curve before producing acceptable output. Exploration Maps produces the same output in 15–30 minutes on a first use, with no training required.

Cost Comparison

MapInfo Pro is priced at approximately $1,500–$3,000 USD per year for a standard named-user subscription. This positions it in the same cost tier as ArcGIS Pro. For a junior exploration company producing maps occasionally, this is a difficult cost to justify. Exploration Maps is significantly more accessible for small teams without in-house GIS staff.

When MapInfo Is the Right Choice

MapInfo Pro is the right choice if your team already has licensed users and established workflows, if you regularly receive data in TAB format from government datasets or joint venture partners, or if you need its spatial analysis and data management capabilities for managing large claim tenure databases or geoscience datasets. For these workflows, MapInfo remains a capable and well-supported platform.

When Exploration Maps Is the Right Choice

Exploration Maps is the right choice for investor presentations, NI 43-101 map figures, news release maps, and property overview maps — situations where speed, presentation quality, and accessibility matter more than full GIS capability. It is particularly well-suited to junior companies without a GIS professional on staff who need polished maps on a regular basis without the overhead of maintaining an enterprise GIS licence.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Exploration Maps	MapInfo Pro
Annual cost	Low	~$1,500–$3,000 USD
Learning curve	Minutes	Days to weeks
Time to polished map	15–30 min	1–3 hours
Installation required	No (browser-based)	Yes (Windows desktop)
Investor-ready themes	Built-in (5 themes)	Manual layout required
TAB file support	No (GeoJSON/CSV)	Native format
NI 43-101 export	PNG, SVG, PDF	PDF, various
Spatial analysis	Basic	Full-featured
No GIS training needed	Yes	No

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I import MapInfo TAB files into Exploration Maps?

Not directly — Exploration Maps imports GeoJSON and CSV. To use MapInfo TAB data in Exploration Maps, open the TAB file in QGIS (which reads TAB format natively), then export the layer as GeoJSON with CRS set to EPSG:4326. This takes about two minutes and preserves all attribute data from the TAB file.

Is MapInfo still widely used in the mining industry?

MapInfo retains a meaningful user base at major mining companies and geological surveys, particularly in Canada and Australia where it has a long established history. It is less common at junior exploration companies, where ArcGIS and QGIS have largely displaced it for new deployments. Its native TAB format remains relevant because many government geoscience data portals distribute data in TAB or MIF/MID format.

Can Exploration Maps replace MapInfo for investor-facing maps?

Yes — for investor presentations, NI 43-101 figures, news release maps, and property overview maps, Exploration Maps produces output that is equivalent or superior in presentation quality to MapInfo, in a fraction of the time. If your only MapInfo use case is producing these map types, Exploration Maps is a direct replacement. If you also use MapInfo for spatial analysis, TAB data management, or regulatory GIS deliverables, you would continue to use MapInfo for those workflows.

Does the industry expect MapInfo-format deliverables for any submissions?

Some government bodies and regulatory agencies in Canada and Australia request or accept MapInfo TAB or MIF/MID format for GIS data submissions. These are data deliverables (the underlying geospatial data), not map figures. Exploration Maps produces map figures (PNG, PDF) — if you need to deliver raw GIS data in TAB format, you will still need MapInfo or QGIS with the appropriate export plugin for that specific requirement.