I don't know if the author intended it, but the title is a bit amusing. There is no such term as "LOADstone," but that would be about right. The correct term would be "lodestone" which would make them attractive, as the material by that name is magnetic. More broadly, a "lode" is a concentration of any mineable mineral resources which would make them an asset and a resource.
The author needs a swift dose of grammar school.
I believe the writer was searching for the metaphor, "millstone".