The government sign-off means Rolleston now has certification for almost 400ha of its rehabilitation, which represents almost 40% of the total amount of mined land that has been rehabilitated at the site.

Rolleston also achieved certification for 220ha of its rehabilitation in 2018.

Some of that land is being grazed by prized Charbray cattle.

Rolleston operations manager Andrew McDonald said much of the land was used for grazing cattle before mining began at Rolleston.

"That is the land use we are aiming to achieve post-mining, and it is very rewarding to receive further certification that shows our rehabilitation is delivering successful outcomes," he said.

"Our employees take enormous pride in this aspect of mining. Many of them are from rural backgrounds and it is important to them and Glencore that we return the land to a productive and sustainable use after mining is finished."

According to Glencore Queensland environment & community manager Pieter Swart, across all Glencore open cut mines, planning for rehabilitation starts almost before first coal is mined.

Rehabilitation was incorporated into daily mine plans and annual plans to ensure that this work was resourced, budgeted and delivered, he said.

Swart said these annual plans included targeted areas for disturbance as well as areas for shaping and seeding; forecasts for rehabilitation across the life of mine to avoid large, end-of-mine legacies; and plans to address legacy issues.

"The certification at Rolleston follows a similar achievement at our Newlands operation in 2017, and we are confident of seeing rehabilitation at a number of our other Queensland sites achieving certification in the near future," he said.

"We have a focus on delivering quality rehabilitation that is capable of meeting an agreed post-mining land use."

Swart said Glencore's coal operations across Queensland and NSW would again achieve more than 1000ha of rehabilitation in 2019, the fourth successive year this ambitious target was realised.