The mining and processing plant (GOK) "Apatit" was established in 1929 on the basis of the Khibiny deposits of apatite-nepheline ores. The GOK mines apatite for the aluminum industry, processes ore at aluminum nepheline processing plants (ANOF) to obtain concentrate.
In 1970-1980, Lengiprotrans developed a project for the external railway transport of the Apatit GOK for the export of products.
The construction of the GOK together with the railway approaches was carried out in 3 stages.
I. In the pre-war years, the first stage of construction of the mine and the ANOF-I factory was carried out.
II. In 1970, the construction of the 2nd stage of the GOK began with the construction of ANOF-II, and according to the Lengiprotrans project, the Nizhnyaya loading station and the main marshalling yard of the Apatity railway junction.
III. In the 1980s, the ANOF-III factory was built as part of the third stage of the GOK construction, and according to the Lengiprotrans project - a new loading station Aikuven, the development of Apatity I station with mechanization of the hump, laying additional tracks at Apatity II station.
By 1989, the construction of the facility was completed. The complexity of the work consisted in linking the work of external transport with the technology of the mining and processing enterprise.
The Apatity railway junction acquired three exits to the external network of the Ministry of Railways. At the junction, 75 km of main and station tracks were laid. Newly built or developed stations: Apatity I, Apatity II, Apatity III, Nizhnyaya, Aikuven, Titan, Kirovsk.
The development of the Apatity unit ensured the export of 22 million tons of concentrates per year.
