Wairakite is a zeolite

Zeolite

Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents. The term zeolite was originally coined in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who observed that upon rapidly heating the material stilbite, it produced large amounts of steam from water that...

 mineral with an analcime structure but containing a calcium

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...

 ion. The chemical composition is Ca₈(Al₁₆Si₃₂O₉₆)*16H₂O. It is named for the location of its discovery in North Island, New Zealand, by Alfred Steiner in 1955. The mineral has since been found in metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...

s and in geothermal areas. It was most likely first successfully synthesized in a laboratory in 1970.