TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - METALLURGY - Preferred Metal: The alkali metal is lithium, sodium and/or potassium. The alkaline-earth metal is magnesium and/or calcium.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Compound: The precursor compound is nitrate, hydrochloride, sulfate, formate, acetate, propionate, oxalate and/or acetyl acetonato of cobalt, nickel or ruthenium. Preferred Composition: The silica-type support contains 3-50 mass% of cobalt, nickel and ruthenium. Preferred Properties: The silica-type support has average particle diameter of 10 mum-10 mm, and specific surface area of 100-500 m2/g. Preferred Process: The catalyst is obtained by holding precursor compound on silica-type support, and then drying and bake processing the support. EXAMPLE - Silica (in g) (5) having mean pore diameter of 15.2 nm and specific surface area of 320 m2/g was impregnated with aqueous solution containing 0.04 mass% of magnesium nitrate and 0.04 mass% of sodium acetate. The moisture content was removed by drying at 120degreesC, after impregnation overnight. The impregnated silica was baked at 450degreesC for 2 hours and silica-type support was obtained. The silica-type support contained 0.08 mass% of sum total of alkali metal and alkaline-earth metal. The silica-type support was then impregnated with an aqueous solution containing 10 mass% of cobalt nitrate and 10 mass% of cobaltous acetate. The moisture content was removed by drying at 120degreesC, after impregnation overnight. The support was then baked at 450degreesC for 2 hours to obtain catalyst. The catalyst was packed in a fixed-bed flow through-type reactor. The pressure of the reactor was reduced at 400degreesC for 2 hours. Then, mixed gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the molar ratio of 2/1 was supplied to the reactor at gas-space velocity of 2000 h-1. Reaction was performed at 250degreesC and 1 MPa to obtain hydrocarbon. The catalyst had carbon monoxide conversion ratio of 89.3%, methane selectivity of 13.6% and chain propagation probability of 0.89.