In this investigation, a pilot-scale flotation column was successfully designed, installed and tested in rougher circuit of the Miduk copper concentrator, Iran. The axial dispersion model was employed in the design procedure. Collection zone rate constant (k(c)) along with the target recovery of over 75% was used to size the column. The rate constant k(c) was determined based on a number of pilot and industrial experiments. Performance of the pilot column was compared with existing full-scale Microcel columns in a number of parallel experiments. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.