Congo conundrum a test for Socrates THE near-impenetrable jungle in the far north of the Republic of Congo is home to gorillas, panthers, pythons, and a little-known iron ore project that could make its Australian owner incredibly wealthy. Socrates Vasiliades, a Melbourne-born former commodities trader now based out of London, is the man behind the enormously challenging, but also incredibly promising, Avima iron ore project in the central African nation of Congo.