This method is for determining palladium, gold and potassium in fresh silica catalyst by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES). The method is suitable for the concentration ranges of 0.2 to 1 mass-% palladium, 0.1 to 0.5 mass-% gold and 1 to 5 mass-% potassium. Catalysts containing more than 1% alumina cannot be analyzed by this method.