Overall economy of a flotation operation bears much more than investment costs. The lifetime operation and maintenance of a flotation machine may affect the economy of a project far more than a million saved in investment. Studying the long-term effects on investments is worthwhile as they often surpass any apparent savings in capital expenditure. The optimal solution does not even need to be more expensive. Besides, with high operating costs, time is never on one's side. In the paper various flotation cell arrangements are compared in a simplified example. The example considers capital equipment investment costs, power delivery arrangements, energy costs, and maintenance costs throughout a 25-year ownership. Also effects on CO2 emissions are discussed. The paper will illustrate how proper choice of equipment and modern power delivery and control methods will result in significant benefits in lifetime costs and profitability of flotation operations. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.