The Patagonia Mountains are located east of Nogales, Arizona, just north of the Mexico border.  When I lived in Arizona this was one of my favorite places to go to observe wildlife.  It was on one of my nature trips that I came across a series of mine dumps at the ghost town of Duquesne.  Later I made a night trip back to the same spot.  To my amazement I found an abundance of fluorescent minerals there including Calcite, Fluorite, Scheelite, Powellite, Chondrodite, Humite, Diopside, Caliche, Hyalite and Hydrozincite.  Indeed, this is one of those areas that collectors dream about finding, and I have never discovered anything like it before or since.  The unfortunate bit is that the find was rather shallow, in that once I had collected pieces off the surface of an area there were no more to be found.  The mine shafts were mostly filled in and my attempts to locate the sources of the best pieces were in vain.  Also, since the dumps are associated with a number of mines it was impossible for me to tell the specific mine any particular piece came from, which is why I am using the generic locale description of Duquesne.  While most pieces from this area are not as bright as, say, Miller Canyon there are unique combinations and patterns that I have never seen anywhere else.

Several years ago I made my very last trip to Duquesne and have found that collecting there is no longer possible.  The ghost town including all of the mine dumps and the surrounding area have been sold and the new owner has made it very clear that nobody is welcome to enter.  So from this point on I'll be taking pieces from what I have already collected.

Patagonia Mtns 1	Patagonia Mtns 2	Patagonia Mtns 3
Patagonia Mtns 4