GIS Services in the Mining Sector: Software Compared

GIS services in the mining sector: what you can buy

GIS services in the mining sector fall into three groups: desktop and cloud GIS software (to view, edit and analyse maps), mine-geology modelling software that exchanges data with a GIS (drillholes, block models, pit designs), and services around them, such as data setup, mapping, training and satellite analysis. A licence owner or consultant can start with no software cost at all, because QGIS is open source under the GNU GPL v2 or later (QGIS project), and add paid tools only when a job needs them.

This page compares the main products by what they do, how they are licensed and which file types they exchange, then covers the public data layers you can load on day one, the satellite layers that matter, and a calculator for the running cost of a small team. It is written for licence and claim owners, consultants and investors who must decide what to buy, not for GIS specialists.

A few terms first. A GIS (geographic information system) stores map layers, such as claim boundaries, geology, roads and satellite images, and lets you query and overlay them. A shapefile is the common exchange format for vector layers (points, lines, polygons). Implicit modelling builds 3D geology surfaces from drillhole data with a mathematical function instead of hand-drawn sections. A block model divides a deposit into small 3D cells, each with a grade estimate.

If your question is about the target-ranking side rather than the software, see our guides on mineral prospectivity mapping and how drill targets get ranked.

Mining GIS software compared

The table lists the products readers ask about most. It describes each vendor’s own product statements and licence terms, not our rating. “Licence model” is what the vendor page states; none of these pages gave a single list price we could quote, so ask each vendor for a quote in your currency.

Ownership has changed in this market, so check who you are buying from. Weir Group completed its acquisition of Micromine on 30 April 2025 in an all-cash deal valued at £624 million (about US$840 million) (MINING.COM). Seequent describes itself as the Bentley Subsurface Company (Bentley Systems, 11 February 2026).

Not on the table: products we could not check against a vendor page that opened in our review, such as Hexagon MinePlan and Datamine. Add them to your own shortlist and apply the same five checks below.

How to choose mining GIS software: five checks

1. Which job is first? Mapping claims and field data needs a GIS (QGIS, ArcGIS, Global Mapper). Modelling drillhole data needs a geology package (Leapfrog Geo, Vulcan, Surpac, Origin). Many projects need both, and the GIS comes first.
2. Who will use it? One geologist can run QGIS alone. A team that shares maps across offices may prefer a hosted system with user roles, such as ArcGIS Online.
3. Which files must move? Leapfrog Geo lists shapefile, MapInfo and ESRI geodatabase imports, and Micromine imports Vulcan and Surpac wireframe files (Micromine help). Test one real file before you buy.
4. What does a seat really cost? Add licence, training, data and support for each user for the number of years you will run the project (calculator below).
5. What will a regulator or investor accept? A GIS map is not a resource estimate. Public resource statements still need a named Competent Person or Qualified Person under JORC or NI 43-101, whatever software built the model.

Infographic

Pick mining GIS software in 5 steps

1. 1Define the jobMapping, 3D modelling or both.
2. 2Count usersOne geologist or a shared team.
3. 3Test one fileImport a real shapefile or wireframe.
4. 4Total the costLicence, training and data per seat.
5. 5Plan sign-offA named expert signs resource figures.

What mining GIS services cover

Vendors and consultants sell the same work in different bundles. Esri’s mining page groups GIS use into four segments: exploration, operations, environmental health and safety, and logistics (Esri). Most small projects need only the first.

• Data setup: collecting claim polygons, geology maps, old drill logs and geochemistry into one coordinate system, with a layer list others can follow.
• Mapping and cartography: maps for permit applications, investor decks and field crews, including printed sheets with a scale and north arrow.
• Spatial analysis: overlays such as “claims inside a mapped fault zone”, buffer distances to roads, slope and drainage from a terrain model.
• Remote-sensing layers: satellite band ratios and alteration maps loaded as raster layers (see the satellite sections below).
• Training and support: short courses and consultant time. Seequent, for example, sells a pay-for-use Leapfrog Geo licence for consultants (Consultant on Demand), billed by the day through a Seequent ID (Seequent).

The video below walks through a mining GIS map: licence boundary, detected anomaly zones and live statistics. It uses de-identified demo data, so treat it as a tour of the interface, not a result.

▶ A tour of a mining GIS map: licence boundary, anomaly zones and live statistics (demo data) · 5:38

Public data layers you can load on day one

Before you pay for a data service, load the public layers. They cost nothing to access and show who holds the ground and what is already known.

• USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS): deposit name, location, commodity and references for sites worldwide. USGS stopped systematic updates in 2011, so treat it as a historical index; records are graded A to E by how much information they hold (USGS).
• British Columbia MINFILE: a point layer of mineral occurrences served as a feature service that returns JSON or GeoJSON, up to 1,000 records per request (Province of British Columbia).
• US mining claims: the Bureau of Land Management publishes a national mining-claims feature layer from its Mineral and Land Records System, which you can add to QGIS or ArcGIS by URL (BLM). Our guide to mining cadastre portals by country lists where other countries publish theirs.

Always check the date of a claim or licence layer against the regulator’s own register before you rely on it. Public layers lag behind new filings.

Satellite pixel size and what it can resolve

Satellite imagery is the cheapest layer you can add to a GIS, but pixel size decides what it can show. Sentinel-2 images the land at 10 m resolution in 13 spectral bands over a 290 km swath (ESA). Landsat 9 samples nine bands, eight at 30 m and one panchromatic band at 15 m, and two thermal bands at 100 m (USGS). NASA’s ASTER lists a 15 m ground resolution for its visible and near-infrared bands (NASA JPL).

Chart

Pixel size of common satellite layers

Metres on the ground; best multispectral bands

In practice a 10 m pixel can outline a pit, a tailings dam or a stockpile, while a 30 m pixel suits regional alteration and structure. Neither replaces sampling. Use them to decide where to sample.

The video explains remote sensing for mining in plain words and why agreement between instruments matters.

▶ Remote sensing for mining explained in plain words · 2:01

Revisit time, bands and bit depth

How often a satellite returns decides how many images without cloud cover you get. Sentinel-2 revisits every 5 days with its constellation (ESA). Landsat 9 has a 16-day repeat cycle, offset by 8 days from Landsat 8, so the pair gives a view about every 8 days (USGS). Band count matters for mineral work because different minerals reflect different wavelengths: Sentinel-2 carries 13 bands, Landsat 9 carries 11 (nine optical plus two thermal), and ASTER lists 14 (NASA JPL).

Chart

Shades each Landsat band can record

Number of grey levels per band

Chart

How often a satellite returns

Days between views of the same ground

Why bit depth matters for dark ground

Bit depth is how many shades a sensor can record per band. Landsat 7 records 256 shades, Landsat 8 records 4,096 and Landsat 9 records 16,384, which helps on dark surfaces such as water or dense forest (USGS). For a GIS user this means Landsat 9 layers keep more tonal detail than older scenes when you stretch contrast.

Cloud or desktop: where the data should live

Desktop GIS keeps files on your machine. It is simple, private and works offline in the field, but sharing means copying files. Cloud GIS keeps layers on a server, so a manager in one office and a geologist at camp see the same version. ArcGIS Online is the hosted option from Esri, and ArcGIS Enterprise is the self-hosted one (Esri). Google Earth Engine runs analysis next to the imagery, so you do not download scenes at all.

A common small-team set-up is QGIS on laptops, a shared folder or cloud drive for layers, and one hosted map for investors or partners. Whatever you pick, keep a dated copy of the layers behind every map you publish, because claim and licence data change.

What a mining GIS setup costs a small team

Three cost lines add up: licences, training and data. Licence cost depends on the vendor quote and the number of named users. Training is a one-off per person. Data cost covers imagery, geophysics or survey purchases, and cloud storage. The calculator below adds them for the years you plan to run the project, using your own numbers. The defaults are round placeholders, not vendor prices.

Where Farmonaut fits

Farmonaut is a US-based satellite analytics company. It does not sell GIS software. It produces satellite mineral detection reports from an area you supply as coordinates, a KML or KMZ file or a polygon, and delivers in 5 to 20 business days depending on size and mineral. Deliverables include georeferenced GIS files, so the result can be loaded into QGIS, ArcGIS or the geology packages above. Results are exploration targets that sit ahead of a resource estimate; they are not a JORC or NI 43-101 estimate.

The video gives a short tour of the Mining Pro platform, using de-identified demo data.

▶ A short tour of the Mining Pro satellite platform (demo data) · 4:56

Frequently asked questions

What are GIS services in the mining sector?

They are the software, data and support used to map and analyse where minerals, claims, infrastructure and risks sit. Typical services are data setup, mapping, spatial analysis, remote-sensing layers, training and hosting, from exploration through operations and closure.

What is the best GIS software for mining?

It depends on the job. QGIS suits individual geologists and small teams, ArcGIS suits organisations that want hosted maps and user roles, and Leapfrog Geo, Vulcan, Surpac and Micromine Origin handle 3D drillhole and block-model work. Most projects use a GIS plus one geology package.

Is QGIS good enough for mineral exploration?

For mapping, overlays, georeferencing and satellite layers, yes; it is open source and has no licence fee. It does not replace drillhole modelling and resource-estimation software, so you will still need a geology package if you drill.

How much does mining GIS software cost?

QGIS has no licence fee. Esri, Seequent, Maptek, Dassault and Micromine sell by quote or user-type subscription, so there is no single price. Use the calculator on this page to total licences, training and data over the years you will use them.

Do I need Leapfrog, Vulcan or Surpac if I already have a GIS?

Only if you work with drillholes in 3D. A GIS shows surface maps well; modelling packages build 3D geology, block models and pit designs. Leapfrog Geo, for example, imports shapefiles and geodatabases, so the two tools can share layers.

What GIS data can I get for a mining claim?

Public layers include national mineral occurrence databases such as USGS MRDS, provincial layers such as British Columbia MINFILE and US claim layers from the Bureau of Land Management. Check each against the regulator’s register for the current status.

Which satellite imagery is best for a mining GIS?

Sentinel-2 (10 m, 13 bands, 5-day revisit) suits site-scale mapping. Landsat 9 (30 m, about 8-day coverage with Landsat 8) suits regional work and thermal bands. ASTER adds extra bands for alteration studies, at 15 m in the visible and near-infrared.

Can a GIS show where minerals are?

A GIS can overlay evidence such as geology, structure, alteration and past drilling, and rank areas. It cannot confirm a deposit. Only sampling and drilling do that, and a public resource figure needs a Competent Person or Qualified Person.

Can satellite reports be loaded into my GIS?

Yes, if the report ships georeferenced files. Farmonaut reports include georeferenced GIS files. Open them in QGIS or ArcGIS and check the coordinate system first.

Which file formats move between GIS and mine-planning software?

Shapefiles, MapInfo files and ESRI geodatabases for map layers; wireframe files such as Vulcan .00t and Surpac .dtm for 3D surfaces. Leapfrog Geo and Micromine list these imports in their help pages.