A little bit now about the incorporated joint venture. The joint venture vehicle is Kalgoorlie Nickel Pty Ltd, or KNPL, and there has been a number of KNPL team members here with me this week doing a great job of manning the booth and providing updates on this globally significant project. Our partners have significant global resources sector experience and have been able to demonstrate a successful track record in moving forward and developing these globally significant assets. They are progressively earning a 50% interest in KNPL. They currently hold a 35% stake, and once they make a final investment decision for the project, they will earn a further 15% to take them to a 50% interest. Ardea continues to be the largest shareholder with a 65% interest, and most importantly, our partners have been able to secure 75% of the offtake.
We always knew that to be able to get the best possible debt finance terms, we had to be able to demonstrate approximately 70% of that offtake going to very credible offtake partners, which certainly our Japanese joint venture partners fit that bill. The support for this project is unprecedented to my knowledge. Here in the state of Western Australia, we enjoy Lead Agency Status and, most importantly, great stakeholder support here in the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the Shire of Menzies. From a federal Australian government perspective, we enjoy Major Project Status and more recently, Investor Front Door Status. From the Japan side, we have METI and JOGMEC contributing 50% of the AUD 98.5 million definitive feasibility study budget. Similarly, the project has been recognized in several critical minerals agreements between Australia, Japan, and the United States.
The company and the team has been incredibly busy. I am very proud of what we have been able to achieve this year, and this demonstrates the support for the project in absolute detail. In February, we announced letters of support totaling AUD 1 billion from Export Finance Australia and the U.S. Export-Import Bank. As I mentioned, in March, we were included in the U.S. and Japan Critical Minerals fact sheet. In April, we awarded Investor Front Door Status by the Australian Federal Government, and that leads to expedited assistance with approvals, permitting, and also potential funding assistance from a range of Australian funding agencies such as EFA and NRF. In May, the project was included in the Australia-Japan Critical Minerals Cooperation Agreement. Similarly, in June, we were awarded that Lead Agency Status here from the Western Australian State Government.
This unprecedented support demonstrates the momentum behind this globally significant critical minerals project. In terms of the support from Export Finance Australia, it is a letter of funding support for up to AUD 500 million. The important point here is that it is not limited to just debt. It could be debt, it could be equity or other financial instrument in the best interests of the project. With U.S. EXIM, similarly, it is $350 million or approximately AUD 500 million. It just indicates and highlights the geopolitical will and support behind this project. This is work undertaken purely by the Ardea team. It goes without saying the range of funding support options available to our large-scale partners, and we continue discussions with a range of export credit agencies right around the world.
In terms of the project fundamentals, we've now moved 70 km north of where we're standing to the heart of the Goongarrie Hub project. The image on the right demonstrates the Goongarrie line of lode over 25 km of strike. The ore reserve blocks from our 2023 pre-feasibility study are highlighted in red. Note that direct access to road and rail. Most importantly, all the mineral resources are located on granted mining leases. The production outlook is approximately 30,000 tons of nickel and 2,000 tons of cobalt for over 40 years. This is a multi-generational project. Most importantly, we're only currently assessing six of nine mineral deposits, so this project will be going for well in excess of 50 years. That's the expectation.
Once in production, we've less space for a third autoclave, we've less space for a scandium refinery, so we can rapidly increase production from the currently 3.5 million tons per annum by adding that third autoclave to add on an additional 1.75 million tons of throughput. With the scandium circuit, we've heard a lot of discussion around solid-state fuel cells and it being an additive to create a lightweight, high-strength aluminum alloy. We'll be saying a lot more about scandium in the coming months as Ardea concludes an in-progress feasibility study. Most importantly, it's the ability to be able to expand this project. We're in no way resource-constrained. In terms of the in-progress definitive feasibility study, full credit to the KNPL team. We're leading that work with the likes of Ausenco, Lycopodium, and Worley Chemetics on the acid plant.
It's the relevant subject matter experts from right around the world to make sure that the project succeeds. Some of the key deliverables will include an updated mineral resource. There's been over 50,000 m of drilling concluded. That's infill resource definition work, metallurgical drilling, geotechnical drilling, hydrogeological drilling. Those sorts of things don't really get the market excited. Without getting it right, a project can't succeed. It's those underlying principles and core work that underpin the DFS and will contribute to this project succeeding. In terms of the production pipeline, we've spoken and focused primarily on Goongarrie Hub. In addition to that, I mentioned earlier on the tenements in red. That's the Kalpini Hub, and it's that pipeline of projects controlled 100% by Ardea. We're all familiar with this area. The same tenements can host gold, nickel, lithium.
We will be undertaking additional work on additional commodities over and above the base case, nickel, cobalt, and also expected inclusion of scandium in the future. A little bit now about Indonesia. They've moved significantly to increase their production. More recently, we've seen the Indonesian government reduce the mining quotas from being renewed every three years to annually, also reducing some of the mining quotas. I'd like to talk now to these graphs. These were compiled by the Minerals Council of Australia and, in particular, Steven Brown. There's a brilliant presentation called the Nickel Pickle. Full credit to their research. What we look at here is the rapid growth of nickel production in Indonesia from a standing start around 2015 to currently dominate global supply to the tune of approximately 70%.
In that same period, we've seen the rapid decline in Australia's contribution to annual nickel production. We've seen the well-documented closure of Nickel West at Ravensthorpe. That doesn't mean the Australian nickel sector's dead. It reiterates we've got to have globally significant projects like the KNP developed to be able to see Australia punch against its weight again and contribute to that nickel supply. We can't continue to supply and depend on one single jurisdiction. Similarly, the ability for Indonesia to be able to continue to increase their production. We're going to reach that scenario where their growth will taper off. Their underlying sustaining capital and cost structure has to keep increasing. We've got that continuing compound annual growth rate from nickel, traditional uses like stainless steel, lithium-ion batteries. More recently, we've seen the rapid rollout of natural gas around the world.
Natural gas storage depends on about 30% nickel added to that steel to be able to retain, compress, and transport that natural gas. Then we're talking about robotics. There's going to be a strong preference for nickel cathode, manganese cathodes because they're lighter weight than LFP. The outlook for nickel continues to be compelling, and Australia has to provide that diversity of supply, and there comes the KNP. With that inter-government support that I've highlighted here, it shows the momentum behind this project and making sure we succeed. We've seen a similar outlook with the rapid increase in cobalt production from Indonesia. Again, that can't continue, and we feel our timing to production is very good. Again, this figure also highlights the value of nickel exports. We've currently got Indonesia circa AUD 10 billion per annum, and Australia's rapidly declining.
We've got Nova-Bollinger moving close to care and maintenance. The only remaining mine is another nickel laterite project also here in the Eastern Goldfields, and that's Glencore's Murrin Murrin operation. It shows that the future for nickel is dependent on large-scale, long-life nickel laterite projects being developed, like the KNP. Just in closing, now's the classic time to get set in nickel. It's been a long winter. It's been about two years of that prevailing challenging sentiment. We don't shy away from that. Just because the likes of Nickel West goes into care and maintenance doesn't mean all projects are challenged. We feel once in production, we can be cost-competitive with all of our international peers, including Indonesia. That's a key point of difference.
Every mineral deposit's different, and you'll see in the fullness of time as we deliver the definitive feasibility study that this project stands on its own merits and can be cost-competitive. Just in closing, this is a globally significant strategic asset. We have international partners with a track record of success. They're not going to look to be involved in this project unless they believe in the fundamentals. Again, the Japanese, that long track record of being very systematic and making long-term strategic investments, and this is every bit that project. The project's been recognized internationally, in particular within Japan and the United States, and we continue dialogue with a number of other governments around the world, very much focused on that supply chain diversity and security.
We've demonstrated a project funding pipeline with that AUD 1 billion in funding support from EFA and EXIM. That's just the beginning. The DFS is progressing, and we will have a detailed update to the market on next steps before the end of October. We've also got the Kalpini Hub, which Ardea retains 100% of. The outlook for the company continues to be compelling. Thanks very much for your time today. Appreciate we're just about the last people standing at the event at the end of a very big, long three days, but it's always great to be in Kalgoorlie, and thanks very much for your time.