Kirovskii apatite mine, Kukisvumchorr Mt, Khibiny Massif, Murmansk Oblast, Russiai

Regional Level Types
Kirovskii apatite mine	Mine (Active)
Kukisvumchorr Mt	Mountain
Khibiny Massif	Massif
Murmansk Oblast	Oblast
Russia	Country

The Kirovsky Mine is located approximately 5 km (3.11 mi) NNE of the town of Kirovsk and 148 km (91.96 mi) S of the city of Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula. Currently, its main resource is apatite, but in addition to the development of this mineral deposit, the plant is also engaged in the enrichment of ores and the production of fertiliser concentrates.

Until the opening of the apatite and nephelinite mines in the region, Kirovsky was open tundra peopled by reindeer herders.

In 1920 a group of geologists, as part of a prospecting and exploration expedition, discovered a large field of resources in the southern part of the Khibiny Massif with reserves of various minerals estimated at 13 billion tons. There was some basic development of the Kirovsky Mine before this official discovery, although it was done using old-fashioned manual methods. Pits were made by drilling, the rock dump was made by shovels, the material was loaded onto carts drawn by horses. At that time the locality was not settled and all the work was carried out by prisoners living in dugouts who had been sentenced to hard labour.

In the summer of 1929 a dirt road was laid and subsequently urban infrastructure was built around the mine to provide housing for the immigrant workers employed there. By the end of 1930 its population grew to ten thousand people. The mining town was incorporated in 1931. Until 1934 it was known as Khibinogorsk, but on 15th December 1934 it was renamed Kirovsk after the recently assassinated Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary Sergei Kirov, who had been in charge of planning the development of the deposits.

By 1939 productivity at the mine was 2.6 million tons of ore per year. During World War II the mine and adjoining town were close to the front line but, despite some workers being drafted into the army and others getting evacuated to the Urals and Kazakhstan, work was not interrupted at the mine. However, the site was repeatedly bombed and consequently workshops along with other production facilities at the plant suffered.

By the early 1950s the country needed more phosphate fertilisers and so the mine was further developed and expanded. In 1964 an open pit mine was opened on the plateau of Mount Rasvumchorr at an altitude of 1 km (ca. 3,281 ft). Most of the works were mechanised with excavators, dump trucks and drilling machines all utilised.

In 1979, in recognition of its great achievements in the extraction of minerals and in connection with the 50th anniversary of activities at the mine, the mining company was awarded the Soviet Union’s Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

In the second half of the 1980s the Kirovsky Mine extracted more than 60 million tons of ore from the mountain and shipments of the finished products amounting to 200 million tons of first-class concentrate were made from three processing plants.

The collapse of the USSR in 1991 led to a drop in productivity and the halt of many production sites at the plant. Ore production was reduced and government funding almost completely ceased. It became almost impossible to sell products and most operations were carried out with the expectation of payments in the future, but the situation improved in the late 1990s with new management.

In recent years the implementation of innovative programs at the Kirovsky Mine has seen production increase and the long-term plans for 2020 and beyond are for the level of ore mining to be 8.5 million tons annually.

The unique apatite-nepheline ore from the Khibiny Massif is one of the world's biggest and richest deposits and the main source of phosphate rock in Russia. The Kirovsky Mine works six different Khibiny deposits:

• Apatitovy Cirque (Apatite Circus)
• Koashva
• Kukisvumchorr
• Njorkpahk
• Rasvumchorr Plateau
• Yukspor

The Khibiny Massif is one of the two main mountain ranges of the Kola Peninsula, Russia, within the Arctic Circle, located between Imandra and Umbozero lakes. The Khibiny Massif are the highest mountains of the Kola Peninsula, a large peninsula extending from northern Russia into the Barents and White seas. It is rich in minerals due to the removal of a layer of soil during the last ice age. The Khibiny Massif forms the shape of a horseshoe topped by a high plateau, drained by a series of deep canyons. The peaks are of plateau type, with steep slopes, with glaciers, ice fields and snowfields in some places. The overall terrain is alpine tundra. The second, and similar mountain range of the Kola Peninsula, the Lovozero Massif, is located about 5 km (3.11 mi) E from the easternmost point of Khibiny, separated from it by Lake Umbozero. The Khibiny range is extremely rich in minerals, mainly apatite and nepheline ores.

Note on the mineral list: corundum from Svintsovyi Ruchei (Lead Creek), Kukisvumchorr Mt, Khibiny Massif has been erroneously attributed to this locality.

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