The origin of Magnetism is believed to be a consequence of general relativity. I'll have more to say/write in the article about this in a couple of weeks when I have access to my notes again.
from the article: "are iron, some steels, and the naturally occurring mineral lodestone?" Since steel is an alloy of iron, and loadstones contain iron, shouldn't the list of natural magnets be changed to "iron, nickle, and cobalt."