Tuesday May 12, 2015: If smoke is a sign of fire, there is a...

Tuesday May 12, 2015: If smoke is a sign of fire, there is a raging inferno at Sirius Resources (SIR).

And Independence Group (IGO) has done nothing to clear the haze with its very carefully worded ASX statement this morning, which it lodged in response to mounting speculation that it is poised to lob a bid on the table for Sirius.

Writing in The West Australian this morning, Peter Klinger cites market sources as "saying that Independence and its advisers are considering a deal to buy Sirius' biggest shareholder, millionaire prospector Mark Creasy, out" of Sirius as a precursor to launching a takeover bid.

Klinger says this would enable Independence to strike at a time when the risks associated with developing the Nova nickel project are seen as a potential drag on Sirius' share price.

The article flushed out an immediate response from Independence, which issued an ASX statement saying it "has not entered into an agreement for a transaction with any of the parties mentioned in the media articles".

Observers noted that Independence obviously felt the need to say something, but what it did say fell well short of a denial.

In other words, former ASX listings manager Tony Walsh, who is now Independence's company secretary, walked that well-trodden fine line that runs through the rules set out by his former employer.

But while the statement was ambiguous, the market seems to be forming an increasingly firm view of the proceedings, with Sirius shares up another 4 per cent this morning.