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At 45, Maki started a second career as an instructor at Cambrian College, imparting his passion for geology and mining to many hundreds of students who went on to occupy positions of responsibility in the mining and exploration industry around the world.
Not one to sit still, he spent every summer in the field, usually in Latin America.
"By doing so, I could be much more inspirational to my students," he said.
Maki attended Sudbury Mining and Technical School, spent two years at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and got his first job working for Falconbridge in the bush north of Lake Superior.
"That's a part of Ontario where the snow comes down about six to 10 feet and slogging through that stuff, I started thinking there must be a better place in the world than this."
He picked up the Canadian Mines Handbook, looked up every foreign address he could find and mailed out applications.
"I got a response from Noranda asking me how soon I could come to Nicaragua.I didn't have to think twice.Then I asked ,Where the hell is Nicaragua?'"
Maki was appointed mine geologist at the El Limon gold mine and quickly picked up Spanish. It was the start of a lifelong love affair with Latin America.
He returned to Canada, married a Sudbury girl and headed south once more , this time for a job as a junior mining engineer in Mexico. His work also took him to Chile, Argentina, Peru and Brazil.
Back in North America in the late 50s as general superintendent at a lead-zinc mine in Wisconsin, Maki received a telegram one day from United Nations headquarters asking him if he would be interested in a job as an economic geologist in Chile. It was a dream job, a once in a lifetime opportunity and he didn't hesitate.
He examined a few old prospect adits that had been driven into a rusty hillside near the Argentine border by William Braden in 1910. Not being economic at the then prevailing prices, Mr Braden pushed onto other sites, and discovered what was to become the El Teniente mine.
Subsequently, over the years, this occurrence had been evaluated by many others but was always dismissed as being uneconomic.
"I think one of the reasons they turned it down was because it was so difficult to get to.They probably didn't feel like going back a second time to have another look." Maki thought otherwise after making the grueling trek by muleback to have a look at the deposit.
"If we had a showing like that in Canada, it would be like a Swiss cheese, full of drillholes by now," he told his skeptical Chilean colleagues.
"My contribution in getting it going has just faded away," said Maki. "I'm sure they wouldn't let me in the front gate if I was to go there today."
He admits to a few aches and pains, but still looks forward to getting out in the bush. His only concession to his advanced years was to relinquish his axe and chainsaw.
"I've been told to think about retirement, but I don't really know what it means and I don't know what I'd do with myself," he confided.
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