The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of Jameson flotation operation variables on the recovery and kinetics of unburned carbon (UC). The waste sample of petroleum coke, filter powder or fly ash, used in the experiments was collected from lime calcination plant tailings. The effect of Jameson flotation parameters on the recovery and kinetics efficiencies of UC was systematically studied. The feasibility of separating unburned carbon and refuse was determined from the combustible recovery (CR) and ash reduction (AR) (%) curves. Within the range studied, the optimum diesel oil dosage was 3500 g/tonne, pine oil dosage was 2500 g/tonne, pulp density was 15%, wash water rate was 0.17 cm/s and downcomer immersion depth was 50 cm. The results indicate that the Jameson flotation technique is effective in removing the UC from waste filter powder. Furthermore, the classical first-order kinetic flotation model (R=R-infinity [1 - exp (-k*t)]) was applied to data from the tests. The model was evaluated by statistical technique, after non-linear regression on the model parameters. It is found that the classical first order flotation kinetic model, most extensively used among flotation models, fits the tests data very well. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.