Tuzlaite was discovered in 1994 by a team of scientists led by Croatian mineralogist, Academician Vladimir Bermanc. Tuzlaite was first described in a scientific paper published in the renowned mineralogical journal American Mineralogist and was confirmed by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) in the same year as a new mineral species under the designation IMA1993-022.

Tuzlaite was discovered in thin veins of evaporitic minerals from the Tušanj salt mine, which is located in the dolomite of the Tuzla region. The mineral forms part of a paragenesis that includes halite, dolomite, northupite, searlesite, and bradleyite.

The chemical formula of tuzlaite is NaCa[B₅O₈(OH)₂]·3H₂O. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system, typically forming small prismatic crystals elongated along the a crystallographic axis. Tuzlaite is most often found as parallel fibrous aggregates in small veins. It is a transparent, colorless to white mineral, with a silky to dull luster and perfect cleavage along the base pinacoid. Its relative hardness is between 2-3, and its density is 2,21 g/cm³.