What are natural magnets mad of?

Question

Where do they come from?Are they naturally magnetized?
What do they look like?

Answer 1

Known for centuries as magnetic rock-or "lodestone"-this ferromagnetic ore sample contains mostly ferric oxide.A piece of intensely magnetic magnetite that was used as an early form of magnetic compass.
Iron, steel and ordinary magnetite are attracted to a magnetic field, including the Earth's magnetic field. Only magnetite with a particular crystalline structure, lodestone, can act as a natural magnet and attract and magnetize iron.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Color is black.
Luster is metallic to dull.
Transparency: Crystals are opaque.
Crystal System is isometric; 4/m bar 3 2/m
Crystal Habits are typically octahedrons but rarely rhombododecahedron and other isometric forms, most commonly found massive or granular. Twinning of octahedrons into spinel law twins is seen occassionally.
Cleavage is absent although octahedral parting can be seen on some specimens.
Fracture is conchoidal.
Hardness is 5.5 - 6.5
Specific Gravity is 5.1+ (average for metallic minerals)
Streak is black.
Associated Minerals are talc and chlorite (schists), pyrite and hematite.
Other Characteristics: Magnetism stronger in massive examples than in crystals, striations on crystal faces (not always seen).
Notable Occurrences include South Africa, Germany, Russia and many locallities in the USA.
Best Field Indicators are magnetism, crystal habit and streak.

Answer 2

Natural magnets were once called lodestones believed to have super natural properties..

They are of course primarily iron,
Which was subjected to a directed electical field , or passed through a magnetic or heavy gravitational field.

It is easy to picture magnetic repulsion as millions of invisible particles emited from a source . The particles push and repel .

But the attractive property, requires some type of hook on the particles so they can grab on and pull the attracting source c loser.
The best would be a lot of sticky stuff on the attractive particle.
The particle goes out away from the magnet , turns around and enters the other pole .
Likewise the other magnet must be of the opposite configuration.
The glue was once made from old horses, . but the new stuff has thousands of little suckers on it .

Answer 3

Pl. see the following link which explains the subject in good detail.

http://www.phy6.org/earthmag/lodeston.htm

Iron oxide (magnetite) in some specific forms and naturally magnetised is the naturally occuring form of a magnetic substance. The above lesson (link) explains the details.