Use this reference to understand where a map’s data comes from, what the search supports, and what you still need to verify. Coverage reviewed September 15, 2026; a review date is not a guarantee that every source is current or available.
Claim-search coverage
| Jurisdiction | Source used by the app | Search scope |
|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | BC public acquired-tenure WFS | Registered owner, tenure/tag number; no map-sheet lookup. |
| Ontario | MLAS public mapping service | Holder or tenure number. |
| Quebec | Imported public mining-title dataset | Holder or title number; a stored snapshot, not a live GESTIM query. |
| Saskatchewan | Public mineral-tenure mapping service | Owner or disposition number. |
| Manitoba | iMaQs public mining-claim layer | Tenure or staking tag number; holder search unavailable. |
| Newfoundland & Labrador | GeoAtlas mineral-lands mapping service | Licensee/holder or licence/claim number, as published. |
| Yukon | GeoYukon quartz-claims layer | Owner/name or grant number; placer claims excluded. |
| United States | BLM MLRS federal mining-claims spatial data | Selected states; project/claim name or serial number. State/private tenure is outside this dataset. |
Official sources and detailed guides
BC: Mineral Titles Online · Ontario: MLAS mapping service · Saskatchewan: mineral-tenure service · Manitoba: iMaQs mapping service · Newfoundland & Labrador: GeoAtlas mineral lands · Yukon: GeoYukon mining service. See the Canadian registry guide for official registry links including Quebec, and BLM’s claimant report for claimant records.
Search results, company snapshots and saved maps have different dates
Read the source and date shown with the result or layer. A retrieval date says when data was obtained, not when the government last changed a title. If a date is absent, treat freshness as unverified.
| Data path | What freshness means |
|---|---|
| Public-service searches | The app requests the published service; its publication timing may lag the official registry. Availability and completeness depend on the source. |
| Quebec searches | The app queries an imported dataset. Freshness depends on the latest successful import; it is not the time you run the search. |
| Company pages | Prebuilt map snapshots have their own displayed source/update information. They are not regenerated by opening the page. |
| Imported or saved projects | Geometry reflects the source you imported or saved. Reopening a map does not automatically refresh every layer. |
How company matching works
Searches compare your query with available published name fields. Exact, possible and weaker candidates help you find spelling variants, but do not prove beneficial ownership, option terms or control. Select titles after checking their identifiers and location. For US results identified as claim-name matches, a familiar company word in a claim name is not an ownership record.
See the worked BC owner-search example.
Empty, partial or unavailable results
An empty response can mean no matching spelling, the wrong jurisdiction, an unsupported claim type or missing source records. A source outage is a different condition. Read any truncation or scope notice before treating a result as complete. Try a known identifier or consult the official registry; do not infer that ground is available from a missing polygon.
Uploaded files and sample maps
Try the boundary import example or the 14-collar drill example. Cedar Ridge and Aurora Ridge Minerals are fictional demonstrations. Sample assay labels are not exploration results. File imports preserve supplied geometry and attributes; the app does not certify coordinates or assays.
| File | What to supply | Coordinate handling |
|---|---|---|
| GeoJSON / JSON | A FeatureCollection with geometry and properties | Use WGS84 longitude, latitude (EPSG:4326). |
| Zipped Shapefile | Matching .shp, .shx, .dbf and .prj files in one .zip | The .prj supplies the source projection for conversion. |
| KML / KMZ | Upload the .kml or compressed .kmz directly | KML uses geographic longitude/latitude. |
| CSV | A header row and a coordinate pair for each point | Use WGS84 decimal degrees; convert projected eastings/northings first. |
How we check guides and correct errors
Exploration Maps prepares these product guides. We compare changed instructions with the current app and use reproducible samples or dated public-data searches for worked examples. Automated checks cover generated pages, links and core editor flows. These checks do not amount to a survey, a title opinion or an independent technical review.
Read about Exploration Maps. Report an incorrect instruction or source to support@explorationmaps.com, including the page, jurisdiction and the step that failed. Please avoid sending confidential project files unless needed and agreed.