{"title":"Zunyite","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eZunyite\u003c\/strong\u003e is a rare chlorine-bearing aluminosilicate with the formula \u003cstrong\u003eAl13Si5O20(OH,F)18Cl\u003c\/strong\u003e, built from linked silicon tetrahedra and aluminum-oxygen octahedra in an unusual, tightly bonded framework. It crystallizes in the \u003cstrong\u003eisometric\u003c\/strong\u003e system, most often forming sharp, glassy \u003cstrong\u003etetrahedral crystals\u003c\/strong\u003e that may be modified by the cube, occasionally showing contact or penetration twinning on {111}. Colors range from colorless and grayish-white to pale flesh-red, with inclusions of hematite sometimes tinting crystals brown; the mineral typically forms where \u003cstrong\u003efeldspar\u003c\/strong\u003e is hydrothermally altered in aluminous shales and volcanic rocks, often alongside \u003cstrong\u003ekaolinite\u003c\/strong\u003e and quartz.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe species takes its name from the type locality, the \u003cstrong\u003eZuni Mine\u003c\/strong\u003e on \u003cstrong\u003eAnvil Mountain\u003c\/strong\u003e near Silverton in the \u003cstrong\u003eSan Juan Mountains\u003c\/strong\u003e of Colorado, where chemist W. F. Hillebrand first described it in 1884 alongside the rare mineral guitermanite. Classic Colorado specimens show glassy, translucent, triangular crystals to a few millimeters richly covering kaolinite-rich matrix, and the Zuni Mine material remains the benchmark against which zunyite from other localities is judged. The species is also documented from Ouray and Saguache Counties, Colorado, and from Silver City, Utah, including the Ruby Mountain area of the Tintic District.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday the most celebrated zunyite comes from the \u003cstrong\u003eDome Rock Mountains\u003c\/strong\u003e of La Paz County, Arizona, particularly the famous \u003cstrong\u003eElectric Meatball\u003c\/strong\u003e boulder and the nearby \u003cstrong\u003eBig Bertha Mine\u003c\/strong\u003e, where an erratic boulder discovered in a farmer's field in the early 1980s yielded some of the largest, sharpest, and most gemmy tetrahedral crystals known for the species, occasionally faceted for collectors. Other notable occurrences include \u003cstrong\u003ePostmasburg\u003c\/strong\u003e in South Africa's Northern Cape, where pale pink crystals occur in aluminous shale; \u003cstrong\u003eKuni village\u003c\/strong\u003e in Japan, prized for transparent tetrahedral crystals; and \u003cstrong\u003eQalat-e Bala\u003c\/strong\u003e in Hormozgan Province, Iran, which has produced brown crystals intergrown with hematite. Collectors seek zunyite for its rarity, its crisp isometric crystal habit that is unusual among aluminosilicates, its vitreous luster, and the direct link its best specimens provide to storied localities like the Zuni Mine and the Electric Meatball find.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[],"url":"https:\/\/www.italmineral.com\/collections\/zunyite.oembed","provider":"ITALMINERAL","version":"1.0","type":"link"}