Yes it was. In a way the battle of Kursk was a unique armored battle - it was not a surprise. The Russians guessed that the Germans where going to attack the Kursk salient. They had months to prepare for the attack. I don't know how unsual the number of mines exactly was, though. But it really was not too clever of the Germans to attack the area. Tanks are at their best trying to achieve a breakthrough and then exploiting it. In the Kursk area there was no chance of a breakthrough, because there was no rear areas
just anti-tank guns, dug-in infantry supported by artillery, mines - all layed out in depth. Defense position after defense position. And then of course there was the Russian tank forces in reserve just waiting for the steam to run out... The Russian plan was to separate the German infantry and lighter tanks from the heavier tanks. It worked pretty well, as well. The Tigers and Ferdinands could't be stopped, but the supporters couldn't follow. So a lot of the Ferdinands (armed only with a 88mm, not even an MG) that broke through were destroyed with Russians engineers simply climbing on them, armed with flame throwers... Pretty nasty for the tank crews...