An imidazoline group-containing chelating fiber was prepared by means of the reaction of nitrile groups with ethylenediamine in an hydrazine-modified polyacrylonitrile fiber. The adsorption properties of the chelating fiber for Au(III), Pd(II), Pt(IV), Ir(IV), Os(IV), Rh(III) and Ru(IV) ions, such as binding capacity, distribution coefficient, sorptive rate and quantitative elution of Au(III), Pd(II) and Pt(IV) ions were investigated. The imidazoline group-containing chelating fiber possessed high binding capacities and good adsorption kinetic properties, exhibited high affinity for noble metals in 0.1-1.0 mol/L HCl and could be efficiently re-used. After the separation of trace Au(III), Pd(II) and Pt(IV) ions from a matrix using the chelating fiber, these ions could be determined by ICP-AES with satisfactory results, and the relative standard deviation for Au(III), Pd(II) and Pt(IV) ions was less than 6%.