In the present study, the contents of eighteen inorganic elements such as Ca, K, Mg, Cu, Cr, Zn and Sr in oleum camelliae during different stages of refining process were determined using ICP-AES technique. The recoveries obtained by the standard addition method ranged between 82.7% and 112.5%, and RSDs were lower than 6.66%. The detection limits of the method for the eighteen elements were in the range of 0.4-10 μg·L-1. The experimental results proved that oleum camelliae is rich in inorganic elements. The results also showed that depending on the intensity of refining, the contents of elements will decrease accordingly. After the degumming process, the contents of elements P, Ca and Mg in oleum camelliae declined remarkably. Besides, the contents of some trace elements such as Fe, Cu, Mn and Ni that cause oxidation to occur decreased significantly after refining. In addition, Pb was not detected after the degumming and deacidification process while Co and Cd were not detected both in the crude oil and the refined oil. In conclusion, through refining many excessive metal elements in oleum camelliae were removed effectively and the levels of these elements were able to meet the national standards set by the government. Meanwhile, the experimental results indicated that the ICP-AES technique, which can be used to determine the inorganic elements in oleum camelliae, is easy to operate, rapid, accurate, and highly sensitive, and can also determine many elements simultaneously.