This paper presents results of tests performed to investigate the effect of gas rate (1.2-2.5 cm/s), hydrophilic fines content (5-20% w/w silica) and froth depth (10-30 cm) on fines recovery in a laboratory-scale flotation column operating without wash-water addition and absence of floatable particles. A model was developed based on the entrainment coefficients presented by [Trahar, W.J., 1981. A rational interpretation of the role of particle size in flotation. International Journal of Mineral Processing 8, 289-327], which describes the mass contribution of the different size classes to the solids recovered in the concentrate. The entrainment model of [Zheng, X., Johnson, N.W., Franzidis, J.P., 2006. Modelling of entrainment in industrial flotation cells: water recovery and degree of entrainment. Minerals Engineering 19, 1191-1203] was also tested. The results show both models described well the dependence of the mass flow rate of hydrophilic solids in the concentrate. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.