The effect of sodium oleate on the flotation of alumina was studied using samples of gibbsite bearing–shale of south western Sinai, Egypt. The assays of the samples are 18.98% Al2O3, 15.45% SiO2, 12.83% Fe2O3, 14.87% CaO, 5.74% P2O5, 5.34% MnO, 0.86% K2O, 0.76% Na2O, 1.50% trace elements and 23.65% loss on ignition. The aim of this research is to upgrade alumina in the concentrate to be suitable for the industrial applications. Various operating variables (i. e. pH, pulp density, collector dosage, and particle size) affecting the flotation process of gibbsite were studied. Sodium oleate used as an anionic collector; as well as, sodium hydroxide was used as a pH modifier. The optimum conditions obtained were as follows: pH = 11, collector dosage = 2000 g/t, pulp density = 250 g/l and particle size = (-100+80) µm. At these conditions, a concentrate having a grade of 40.1% alumina with component recovery of 96.1% was obtained. The grades of the other ore constituents in final concentrate were as follows: SiO2 was decreased from 14.2% to 5.9%, CaO was decreased from 14.1% to 4.8%, Fe2O3 was decreased from 13.1% to 5.4%, P2O5 was decreased from 4.3% to 3.2%, MnO was decreased from 4.2% to 3.5%, while K2O was increased from 0.89% to 1.3%, Na2O was also increased from 0.69% to 1.2%, traces were increased from 1.6% to 2.7%, and loss on ignition was increased from 25.4% to 31.9%. The component recoveries of SiO2, CaO, Fe2O3, P2O5, MnO, K2O, Na2O, and traces of the final concentrate were 21.4%, 17.5%, 21.2%, 38.4%, 42.9%, 75.3%, 89.6%, and 86.9%, respectively. The mass recovery of final concentrate was 51.5%.