Placing a magnet on it will allow you to separate the iron from the sand. These wands are popular items in several stores. They are fairly strong and are great to demonstrate the attraction between unlike poles and the opposition between like poles. They also work well to see what objects are attracted to magnets. The large flat faces are the strongest areas of the wand magnets.
Second photo is where they are repelled by each other, South to South.
Third photo is where both of their South poles are facing up, and they don't want to stick. The sides are weaker than the faces. Fifth photo is like the third, both of their South poles are facing up, and they don't want to stick. The ends are the weakest part of the magnet. Sixth photo is like the fourth, red is South up and blue is North up, so they stick very weakly.