Investigating the performance of oxalic acid for separating bastnaesite from calcium-bearing gangue minerals based on experiment and theoretical calculation

•Flotation separation of bastnaesite from calcium-bearing gangue minerals (C).•C refer to fluorite and calcite.•Oxalic acid (OA) can selective replace H205 on the surface of C.•The inhibition degree of OA on fluorite is greater than that of calcite.•The inhibition performance of OA was predicted by simulation and calculation.