At the time of the merger they were still saying that the cobalt...

At the time of the merger they were still saying that the cobalt would be sold as a by-product. Along the way that seems to have quietly been dropped. The problem is the cobalt actually has more value than the copper, nickel is also significant. Bear in mind also that the Finnish project was halted even before the GFC as its economics didn't stack up. If its entirely dependent on reduced capex, it was likely marginal to begin with.

This always struck me as a very strange tie-up with few obvious synergies. You have to wonder how long they have known that the cobalt wasn't saleable.