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The trace element composition of igneous and hydrothermal magnetite from 19 well-studied porphyry Cu ± Au ± Mo, Mo, and W-Mo deposits was measured by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and then classified by partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to constrain the factors explaining the relationships between the chemical composition of magnetite and the magmatic affinity and porphyry deposit subtypes. Igneous magnetite can be discriminated by relatively high P, Ti, V, Mn, Zr, Nb, Hf, and Ta contents but low Mg, Si, Co, Ni, Ge, Sb, W, and Pb contents, in contrast to hydrothermal magnetite. Compositional differences between igneous and hydrothermal magnetite are mainly controlled by the temperature, oxygen fugacity, cocrystallized sulfides, and element solubility/mobility that significantly affect the partition coefficients between magnetite and melt …