Junitoite is a mineral with formula CaZn<sub>2</sub>Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub>÷H<sub>2</sub>O. It was discovered at the Christmas mine in Christmas, Arizona, and described in 1976. The mineral is named for mineral chemist Jun Ito (1926âÂÂ1978).
Junitoite is transparent to translucent and is colorless, milk-white, or colored due to alteration. Crystals grow up to and have high quality faces.
Junitoite occurs in fractures through pods of sphalerite. It formed by retrograde metamorphism and oxidation of tactite, also resulting in kinoite. The mineral is known from New Jersey and the type locality in Arizona. Junitoite occurs in association with apophyllite, calcite, kinoite, smectite, and xonotlite.
In 1968, Jun Ito published the results of synthesis of various lead calcium zinc silicates. The formula of one phase, designated X<sub>3</sub>, was identified as probably CaZnSi<sub>2</sub>O<sub>6</sub>÷H<sub>2</sub>O. When he described junitoite, Sidney Williams identified the mineral's formula as CaZn<sub>2</sub>Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub>÷H<sub>2</sub>O, based on communications with Ito.
The mineral's crystal structure was first determined in 1985 and refined in 2012. The mineral crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system. The structure is formed by chains of corner-sharing ZnO<sub>4</sub> tetrahedra linked together by Si<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub> tetrahedral pairs. Calcium ions occupy vacancies and coordinate to five oxygen atoms and one water molecule.
The first known specimen of junitoite was collected from the Christmas mine at Christmas, Arizona, and entered the collection of Joe Ana Ruiz. Geologist Robert A. Jenkins noticed the mineral in kinoite specimens, submitting Ruiz's sample to Sidney A. Williams for study. Further samples came from the collections of Ruiz and Raymond Diaz.
Williams identified the specimens as a new mineral and described it in the journal American Mineralogist in 1976. He named it junitoite in honor of Jun Ito, the mineral chemist who noted the compound of which the mineral is composed. The International Mineralogical Association approved the mineral as IMA 1975-042. The type material is housed in the University of Arizona, Harvard University, the National Museum of Natural History, the University of Paris, the National School of Mines, and The Natural History Museum.