Excerpt from Mineral Resources of the Ramseys Draft Wilderness Study Area, Augusta County, Virginia The Ramseys Draft Wilderness Study Area covers acres (27 km?) of steep, forested ridges in the central part of the Valley and Ridge province in Augusta County, Va. The area includes all of the upper drainage basin of Ramseys Draft in the George Washington National Forest. Bedrock is elastic, mostly nonmarine, sedimentary rocks of Late Devonian and Early Mississippian age. These are folded into a broad northeast-trending syncline. A small alkalic igneous dike of probable Jurassic age cuts the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks near the northwestern edge of the study area. No metallic mineral resources have been identified in or near the study area. A reconnaissance geochemical survey - which includes samples of stream sediments, soil, forest litter, and rock shows no obvious-anomalous values for 30 elements. Two vague northwest-trending belts of weakly anomalous copper values in stream sediments are probably related to slightly mineralized sandstone in the Hampshire Formation of Late Devonian age. Such mineralization is typical for this rock type but generally forms deposits that are too small to be economic. No known coal beds are present in that part of the rocks of Mississippian age preserved in the area. The possibilities of oil or gas are low because of high thermal maturity and unfavorable structural position of the rock formations. The only apparent mineral resources are small amounts of sand and gravel along the main stream, abundant sandstone suitable for construction material, and abundant shale suitable for brick, tile, and other low-grade ceramic materials. Deposits of all these are readily available and more accessible in surrounding areas. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.