He said he was often asked if the Toronto-listed company, previously RNC Minerals, regretted selling off its 28% stake in the world-class Dumont nickel project in Quebec a year ago, particularly given the rise in the commodity price.

Nickel is near a seven-year high on supply disruptions and is worth almost US$20,000 per tonne.

"We needed to make sure we didn't fumble the ball here in Australia," he said in response.

He pointed to the company's two new nickel discoveries, their first in 13 years.

"We're very excited about the nickel perspectives that we have," he said.

"In fact we have put together a new nickel division so we can focus on the two new zones… 30C and 50C."

The company's existing nickel production reduces its all-in sustaining costs by $35-45 an ounce.

"We want to be able to differentiate our operation and take advantage of that nickel … to keep our costs down," Huet said.

"Actually, I was going to say ‘if gold goes down', but we're at a gold show so I don't want gold to go down, but who knows we need to be ready for it, right? I've been in how many cycles.

"Now, if gold prices aren't in our favour, we have that nickel to help us with our costs, that will differentiate us a lot."

Karora produced a quarterly record of 29,831oz from its Beta Hunt and Higginsville mines in WA in the June quarter.

The company is aiming to double its gold production within three years to 185,000-205,000oz.

"The exciting thing about this entire growth plan that we have in front of us is that it's completely self-funded, it's self-funded from the cash that we have in Treasury and the money we're going to be generating," Huet said.

He said an ASX listing made sense "but we have to think about the right time".

Karora shares are trading near the middle of a one-year range, closing up 2.1% yesterday to C$3.82 to value it at $562 million (US$450 million).