Raub was explored and founded in 18th century. It is a historic gold mining settlement, and the gold mining industry is now undergoing something of a resurgence as the gold price has risen. According to the history, this mining centre was named Raub after a group of miners found a handful of gold in every tray of sand they dig. This is described by J.A. Richardson in his book, The Geology and Mineral Resources of the Neighbourhood of Raub Pahang. According to him (page 36), "People found that for every "dulang" of sand there was a handful (raub) of gold". The old folks' tale recounts that in the early 19th century, an old man and his two sons discovered gold every time they scooped up the earth in Raub. Thus, the town and the district derived their name from the Malay word raub which means "scoop".
Raub became famous in the early of 20th century for its mining resource (gold). Then, gold mining in Raub was operated by Raub Australian Gold Mine (RAGM), a company registered in 1889 in Queensland, Australia. The company was initially known as Australian Syndicate Ltd and later as Australian Gold Mining Co. Ltd in 1892. RAGM operated until 1961.
The mining method used in Raub is shaft mining and started at the Raub Hole. This area is now known as Bukit Koman. The mining activity became a valuable heritage for Raub district. Most of the main roads in Raub (before 1980s) were named after RAGM mine managers. Bibby Road, for example, was named after the company's first manager, William Bibby, and Mason Road was named after another mine managers. Bukit Koman was once dubbed "Malaysian capital of gold" as the result of rapid development of gold mining.
A new company, Peninsular Gold, has restarted gold mining at the Raub mine. Initially, the company recovered gold from the tailings dumps from the old mine, but started mining fresh ore again in 2011. A major drilling campaign is in progress, exploring additional resources adjacent and below
