Colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) are micron-sized gas bubbles of 25-30 mu m in diameter produced by a highspeed stirrer in a vessel containing dilute surfactant solution. These bubbles, because of their small size, exhibit some colloidal properties. In this work, CGAs were used to separate fine fibres from a lean slurry of cellulosic pulp in a flotation column. The pulp fibres were recovered as foamate from the top. Sodium dodecyl sulphate at a concentration of 2.0 kg/m(3) was used as a surfactant to generate the CGAs in a spinning disc apparatus. The results indicated that up to 70% flotation efficiency could be obtained within a short column height of 0.3-0.35 m. This technique can be applied to recover fine cellulosic pulp from paper-machine backwater.