In 1985, MIM commissioned Jameson to undertake a project to improve the sparger design for flotation columns. Instead, he developed the concept of using a jet in a downcomer to create the bubbles and eliminate the need for a sparger in conventional flotation columns.
The concept of the Cell followed when further investigations showed that most of the bubble–particle interactions were occurring in the downcomer, rendering unnecessary the collection zone of flotation columns. The idea of the downcomer and short separation tank was developed and a provisional patent application was lodged in 1986. This patent was later assigned to TUNRA Limited ("TUNRA"), the technology transfer company of the University of Newcastle that is now known as "Newcastle Innovation".
A pilot two tonne per hour (t/h) Jameson Cell with a 100 mm downcomer and using an orifice plate to create the jet was tested in MIM's lead–zinc concentrator. Subsequently, in 1988, MIM tested the flotation of a stream of fine lead-bearing particles in a conventional mechanical flotation cell, a conventional column and the Jameson Cell. The Cell gave the best recoveries. This was thought to be a combination of the short residence time of the particles in the Cell and the fact that the hydrophobicity of the lead particles decreased over time.
As a result of this work, in 1989 MIM ordered four full-scale Cells, two for the Mount Isa lead–zinc concentrator and another two for the new Hilton lead–zinc concentrator to be built at the Hilton Mine, located about 20 kilometers north of Mount Isa. The Mount Isa cells had diameters of 1.9 m, with three downcomers each, while those at Hilton were 1.3 m in diameter and had two downcomers each.