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Washington Camp, Duquesne
This was our first trip to Washington Camp/Duquesne area in search of Japan Law Twins.
Washington Camp is located about 25 miles southeast of Patagonia, off Arizona Hwy 82. It was a very productive mining area in the 1800's and early 1900's.
The trip was organized by the Huachuca Mineral and Gem Club, of which we had become members. There were about 12 to 15 members including ourselves who embarked on this field trip in search of the elusive crystal. Club Members at Holland Mine
We spent the day digging and sifting, followed by more digging. We found many nice Quartz Crystals as did all who made the trip, but at days-end no one had found a Japan Law Twin. We were somewhat disappointed but did enjoy the great weather and the new friendships we had
made. We were on the way out when we stopped to look for just about anything else, as we had been told there were many different mineral specimens in this area. We did find some very good samples of Grossular Garnet, dark green in color.
After taking some time to have a tailgate lunch we gathered information from others about future sites in this same area that we might visit on our next trip. It might be noted, at this point, that we had only been rockhounding for about a year. So there was much to learn.
As I looked around one last time before leaving, I spotted a rock next to the roadway, about 16" in diameter. In spite of its large size something attracted me to it. When I rolled it over I noticed a very complex Quartz cluster on the underside. After I brushed some of the dirt off I figured it might be worth a closer look, so in the back of the truck it went. It constantly rolled around in the truck bed all the way home. At one point I wondered why I had even picked up such a large rock.
Once home, I got the hose, some mild soap and a brush and began to clean off more dirt. Upon closer observation I thought I saw what I believed to be a Japan Law Twin. It was about the size of a Quarter as can be seen in the picture. Japan Law Twin 1
Upon looking more closely, I was certain that it was indeed the crystal we had searched for. Even in my excitement, I knew with my limited experience I was going to need confirmation by someone else.
For this I would need to go to our invaluable resource, Mike Anderson. Mike owns and operates the Blue Opal Art Gallery and Gem Shop in Whetstone, AZ. He has seen us bring him many specimens that have turned out to be "Leaverites",(more about that term in a future article).
Mike confirmed that, "yes", it was a Japan Law Twin. We were now the only ones in the group that found a Twin on that day. We couldn't wait to share this FIND with other club members. We were and are very proud of our first twin and as the picture shows there was another, smaller, twin in this same large rock. Japan Law Twin 2
Since that field trip we have been back to the Washington Camp area, on our own, several times. Each time we have been fortunate enough to find more Japan Law Twins. We now have about 9 in our collection. As I mentioned before, Mike Anderson has been our resident Ghuru and friend and has taught us so much about rockhounding, especially how to identify certain minerals.
UPDATE I am saddened to report that someone did buy the property where we found
our Japan Law Twins. This was the area of the Holland Mine and mine tailings.
The new owner has put up a chain and closed off access to this mine. This will make it nearly impossible for other rockhounds to search this area for the coveted Japan Law Twin. We were lucky to have had the good fortune to find ours prior to this new development.
I update frequently with new articles. Information contained in these is from reliable sources and personal experiences with a little humor thrown into the mix from time to time.So come back and visit often to see what's new and exciting! NEW Rockhounds Store
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