Seams to not work 90% of the time ill see it attract 1 ore out of like 10 runs, just 1 and no others.
Noted about the research bug, thanks for reporting in.
About the magnet it has limited range (Magnet range property), item outside the range wont be attracted to. The range unit is in world pixel, you can compare with drill part, each part is 12 * 12 world pixel so magnet range of 24 can attract ore in range of 2 parts. Like I said before most non-magnetic item (copper, gold, sulfur, coal, relics) won't be affected.