A novel laboratory scale apparatus has been developed and used to assess the extraction performance of oil sands under conditions analogous to current industrial processes. The apparatus can be used to investigate independently, the liberation of bitumen from the sand as well as air-bitumen attachment and bitumen recovery. Experiments show that lower operating temperatures have a detrimental effect on bitumen recovery and controlled air addition is beneficial for recovery. The liberation of bitumen from sand grains has been found to proceed faster than air attachment and bitumen recovery, making the flotation the rate-limiting step in the extraction process. The potential benefit of staged air injection into hydrotransport pipelines as a possible process aid is discussed.