Mining and drilling has also destroyed some areas of the tundra. Mining and drilling is popular in arctic tundra areas because they tend to be rich in mineral resources. Minerals are extracted from the ground of the arctic tundras in Russia, Greenland, and Canada. Around these sites not only is the land ravaged, but harmful dusts and gases are produced which cause air pollution. When dusts settle on neighboring ponds, lakes, and streams these waters become uninhabitable by fish, animals and even people.

Oil drilling is popularly supported all over the world. Some arctic areas, like in Canada near the Mackenzie Delta and in Alaska in Prudhoe Bay, oil drilling is big business. Unfortunately, oil drilling, like mining, hurts the tundra. It pollutes the air, water, and ground. Both mining and drilling take land away from the arctic tundra animals. This is because they both produce large amounts of noise pollution , which drives animals from their homes. Plants cannot even survive around mining and drilling sites because of the pollution. Parts of the Russian tundra are an excellent example of arctic tundra land being destroyed by mining. Nickel mines there have become so contaminated that all surrounding plants have died off and the soil has washed away.