In order to process material of a size smaller than 25 µm by flotation at laboratory scale, an investigation was carried out, in order to design a (laboratory) column flotation cell at the Chair of Mineral Processing. The desingn data had to be based on the findings of an extensive literature study. The final cell design was manufactured in co-operation with an Austrian provider for construction in plastics. It has an inner diameter of 81.4 mm and is 1.83 m tall, having a volume of 9.5 litres. The material which was used as column body is transparent PVC-U to avoid chemical reactions. A porous pipe bubble generator, is used to introduce air bubbles into the column. The instrumentation comprises digital and analog flow meters to measure all liquid flows as well as a differential pressure system to estimate the gas holdup. In order to evaluate the performance of the apparatus preliminary tests were carried out with feed materials containing naturally hydrophobic talcum and graphite. Samples of the products were analyzed size related for density, LOI, carbon and sulfur content and evaluated by mass balance tables. The results from the single stage tests obtained so far clearly show a separation effect. The LOI content of the talc sample could be decreased from 9 % in the feed to 6 % in the talc concentrate. In the graphite tests, the carbon content is increased from 54.4 % in the feed to 69,2 % in the concentrate. Necessary improvements are discussed.