Historically this area of Tasmania was inaccessible and therefore resisted early European exploration. The forests were dense, the cold winds - the Roaring Forties - blew rainclouds off the Southern Ocean, and the undergrowth with its leeches and dense scrub, made travelling through the area difficult. It wasn't until 1893 that a gold prospector named Tom McDonald reached Mount Black and staked out a claim which was eventually to become the huge mine which today still drives the economy of Rosebery.

Rosebery was named after Tom McDonald's company, the Rosebery Gold Mining Company (in turn it was named after Lord Rosebery who was Prime Minister of Britain at the time), which began to work Mount Black almost immediately. After a few years the area around Rosebery was typical of a frontier mining town with locals describing it as 'a village built on the muddy slopes of Mount Black ... with another village on the boggy peat soil to the south of the Primrose mine'.

The mineral wealth of the area was quickly discovered. McDonald found gold in 1893. Zinc and lead were found in 1894 and by 1897 copper was being mined at Primrose. By 1899 the privately owned Emu Bay Railway (out of Burnie on the north coast) had reached Rosebery and greatly assisted the local economy by providing access and a good transportation route.

The economy and future of the town was fragile until 1920-21 when Electrolytic Zinc Company purchased the mines in the district, built houses for the mine workers, and invested in an elaborate aerial ropeway to move ore from the Hercules mine to Rosebery. These changes occurred over a twenty year period from 1920 to 1939.

Today, OzMinerals' Rosebery PolyMetallic Mine (Zinc, Lead copper, Silver & Gold) is central to the economic success of the town.